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Date Published: 08/02/2024

New site proposed for second Orihuela Costa health centre

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The current facility in Cabo Roig can’t cope with the number of patients

New site proposed for second Orihuela Costa health centre

From the crack of dawn and whatever the weather, dozens of patients can be seen queuing up outside the Aguamarina medical centre, located at the back of Cabo Roig strip. This is because it’s the only facility available to the growing population of Spaniards and expats who call the Orihuela Costa home.

All of the local administrations agree that the area is desperately in need of a larger health service, but its exact location has caused multiple spats between Orihuela city council and the regional government.

In one corner is the Ministry of Health, which has proposed extending the existing building into the adjacent car park. But local ministers are staunchly opposed, claiming this would create even more traffic jams along an already saturated street and insisting that a second building is needed.

Now, a new location for an extra health centre has been proposed. Well, it’s not exactly ‘new’, since the large site was actually suggested by former mayor Emilio Bascuñana back in 2021, but the project was shelved at the time.

Located in PAU-20 La Ciñuelica, this plot of land has 10,693 square metres of space and councillors in favour of the move believe it would contribute to a more geographically balanced distribution of resources, as it would enable Aguamarina to focus on the southern half of Orihuela Costa, while the new medical centre would cater to the needs of the northern half.

Those hoping for a quick solution are likely out of luck, as conflicting information is flooding out of every department. On the one hand, the former government claims it had already allocated funds from the budget to get moving on the new facilities. On the other, health department head José Cano recently further muddied the waters by claiming that he was again looking into expanding the Aguamarina centre. It was even leaked that 4.8 million euros had been set aside for works between 2023 and 2025.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Health is remaining tight-lipped about any and all plans to improve the local health services of the Orihuela Costa.

In other news: Tractor protests scheduled for the Orihuela Costa on Feb 16

Image: Ayuntamiento de Orihuela

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