The new building adjacent to the Hospital José Molina, to which the Hospital Insular de Lanzarote will be moved, is 95% complete, but the date for its transfer, which will take place in the coming months, is still to be decided, as reported this Friday during a visit to the center by the manager of the island's health services, Pablo Eguia.
The main building of the Hospital Insular has just turned 75 years old and a 2019 report indicates that it has serious deficiencies, Eguia explained during the visit, during which he also detailed that all care services and the so-called Day Hospital will be moved and that only the adjacent geriatric residence will remain in the current location.
The new building has three floors, including the ground floor, and is connected to the José Molina by a walkway. The ground floor does not include rooms although, if necessary, it can be transformed in case of need.
This will be mainly dedicated to the geriatrics service of the Hospital Insular, to outpatient activity, with medical consultations, nursing consultations, psychology, speech therapy, an occupational therapy room, a gymnasium, and the Day Hospital.
On the first floor there will be three units: one for intermediate care, "which is a novel unit that professionals have been demanding for many decades in this hospital," explained the manager, and which will have eight beds, a pneumology hospitalization floor with 12 beds, and an oncohematology floor, which will have 24 beds in 12 rooms.
The second floor has two sections of 26 beds each, one for acute patients and another for functional recovery, medium and long stay, and the entire area is for the geriatrics of the Hospital Insular.
Eguia highlighted the luminosity of the rooms and pointed out that the final investment in the building has amounted to 15 million euros, anticipating that in March a realistic forecast can be made about the transfer, which will take place in the coming months.
An uncertain future for the Insular Hospital
The manager of the health services of Lanzarote has indicated that the future of the old building and of the 15 health centers and clinics —including the construction of those in Playa Honda and Argana and the practically total expansion— will be defined in a master plan that will be delivered in March and will mark the roadmap.
"We are going to submit that document to the Ministry, which will evaluate the document and establish a strategy for the two hospitals and for the 15 health centers on the island. We are at the limit of capacity and this was a lifeline that we have had to redistribute in some way," he added.
Faced with criticism for the transfer, Eguia stated that he understands the concern, but that "there are technical elements that have been known since 2019 that make the reform for the use of the Hospital of that main building impossible due to its architectural limitations and the volume it has".
Furthermore, he indicated that the building has heritage protection and must be preserved, although, due to its 75 years of age, it presents "great difficulty" in continuing to function as a hospital, so a drafting team made up of 13 people will determine which uses will be viable both in the property and on the plot.
