Alex Trelinski
THE head of Torrevieja’s health department, Pilar Santos, has resigned just over a year after it returned to public management.
Ribera Salud contract to run local health services, including Torrevieja Hospital, ended on October 15, 2021.
Since then, waiting times at the hospital’s emergency department have sky-rocketed with staffing issues across the hospital amidst complaints by patients- as previously reported by the Olive Press.
Santos’ management has been criticised by unions, political parties(especially the Partido Popular), and health lobby groups, with frequent calls for her to resign.
Her departure comes on the back of a list of managerial resignations in her department over the last 12 months.
The Valencian Health Minister, Miguel Minguez, passed on his ‘sincere thanks’ to Santos ‘for the great effort made during the year in very complex conditions’.
Valencian authorities pointed out that during the first year of public management, staff numbers have risen from 1,212 to 1,889 people.
Santos will be replaced by Jose Cano who has been charge of Public Health for both the Orihuela and Torrevieja health departments since 2003.
Cano takes over as a report says emergency room waiting times at Torrevieja Hospital are nearly four times the national average.
The OCU consumer organisation puts the national figure at 52 minutes while it hits 199 minutes in Torrevieja.
The maximum average waiting time comes in at 415 minutes at Torrevieja compared to 199 minutes in other Valencian Community public hospitals.
READ MORE:
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