Cardiology of Molina Orosa reduces by 70% referrals outside Lanzarote

The Cardiology service of the Doctor José Molina Orosa University Hospital, attached to the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, has undergone significant organizational and care evolution in recent years, consolidating it as a highly specialized service, integrating diagnostic, therapeutic, and interventional procedures that until a few years ago required referral outside of Lanzarote.

The progressive incorporation of new services has led to a notable decrease in patient transfers to reference hospitals, which have been reduced by 70 percent compared to 2022.

During this period, Cardiology has ceased to be a section of Internal Medicine to become its own service, equipped with care and resolution capacity 24 hours a day. This evolution has been accompanied by a significant reinforcement of the medical and nursing staff, which currently has thirteen specialists, thirteen nurses, and fifteen nursing auxiliary care technicians.

Increase in care activity

The growth of the service's team and technological equipment has been accompanied by a notable increase in care activity.

In the area of consultations, specialist visits have increased by almost 28 percent compared to 2022. In that year, 6,296 consultations were registered, while last year the total number of consultations attended amounted to 8,050.

For its part, diagnostic activity also registered record figures throughout last year, when a total of 8,663 diagnostic and therapeutic tests were performed, representing an increase of more than 80 percent compared to 2022. On the other hand, the Hemodynamics room carried out around a thousand specialized procedures during 2025.

Likewise, during this period, the number of hospital admissions has doubled to reach 787 patients. In parallel, the service has managed to reduce the average hospital stay by 20 percent, standing at 5.8 days, which reflects an improvement in resolution capacity and in the management of available resources.

The milestones of a transformation

The main milestone of this transformation has been the launch of the Hemodynamics room in September 2023, a high-tech infrastructure with a great care impact, which allows complex procedures such as cardiac catheterizations, electrophysiological studies, and implantation of pacemakers and defibrillators to be performed.

This advance has made it possible to implement the Heart Attack Code at Molina Orosa and guarantee an immediate and specialized response to coronary emergencies, which has significantly improved the care of patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Likewise, the incorporation of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in November of last year has represented a significant qualitative leap in the diagnostic capacity of the center. This reference technique for evaluating the morphology and function of the heart non-invasively allows for more precise study of patients with heart disease without the need to travel to the reference hospital in Gran Canaria or be referred to other specialized centers.

To these advances, the creation of a specific telemetry space for continuous monitoring of cardiological patients during their recovery after an intervention is added, as well as the consolidation of new coordination and interconsultation circuits with Primary Care, favoring more agile, accessible, and coordinated care.

In addition, the service has been incorporating new techniques and procedures, among which the implantation of the first leadless pacemaker in the hospital stands out, a minimally invasive alternative that represents an advance in the treatment of certain heart rhythm disorders.

This expansion of the service portfolio means that, currently, only cases of extreme complexity requiring cardiac surgery, valve replacements, or heart transplants are referred to the reference hospital.

Behind these achievements, as explained by the head of the service, Martín García, is the coordinated work of a large multidisciplinary team made up of medical professionals, nursing staff, nursing auxiliary care technicians, orderlies, and support staff, whose involvement has been fundamental for the development and consolidation of the service.

The manager of the Lanzarote Health Services, Pablo Eguia, highlights that the consolidation of the Cardiology service at the Molina Orosa Hospital guarantees maximum quality, effective, and highly specialized cardiological care for Lanzarote patients, bringing them diagnostic and therapeutic procedures that until a few years ago required referral off the island.