The deputy for Lanzarote and La Graciosa and island president of Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista (NC-BC), Yoné Caraballo, has reiterated this Thursday his rejection of the announcement of the definitive closure of the Insular Hospital of Lanzarote, after the Ministry of Health confirmed the transfer of users to the Annex of the Dr. José Molina Orosa Hospital after the summer. A decision that, in his opinion, “represents a serious setback in the island's care model and an unacceptable abandonment of a fundamental health resource.”
Caraballo has denounced that this measure "is not a result of chance", but rather of a “strategy of progressive abandonment and dismantling” of a public care model that has proven to be effective and necessary for the population of Lanzarote. In this regard, he has directly pointed to the Minister of Health of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Marciano Acuña, and the president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort, whom he accuses of being “accomplices in wanting to let the Insular Hospital die and in dismantling a care system that has been an example in the Canary Islands and Spain”.
“The closure of the Island Hospital is not just a technical decision, it is a political decision that affects the dignity of people and the quality of life of those who need specific care,” he/she/it affirmed.
A battery of initiatives
Given this situation, Yoné Caraballo has announced that NC-BC will promote a battery of new initiatives in the Parliament of the Canary Islands with the aim of stopping the closure, demanding explanations from the Government of the Canary Islands of CC and PP, and guaranteeing the continuity of the socio-health care model represented by the Insular Hospital, in addition to demanding a financial sheet for its reform and a schedule for the return of users.
Caraballo concluded by calling for the unity of Lanzarote society to defend a resource which he considers “essential” and which is part of the island's social and health heritage.