Today, on an ordinary day in September 2024, we return to the emergency room of the Molina Orosa Hospital.
Now, in the tranquility of the night while I sit here waiting, I write again to express my opinion about this service, focusing on the human quality of the staff.
An emergency service and a hospital that all of us who live in Lanzarote should be proud of. Not for its facilities per se, but for the value of each of the people who work there.
Many of us are users, others are companions, and every day that, due to the whims of fate, we have to use the emergency service, we leave angry about the wait.
For us, our emergency is the most serious, even if it is a cough that we believe is alarming and, therefore, we go in search of our particular hero.
We leave angry, disappointed; at least, that's what we say out loud in our conversations, but deep down, we leave grateful.
Sometimes because they have given us the peace of mind of knowing that our cough was just a simple cough; other times, because they have saved the lives of those we love, or ourselves.
Of course, there are also irreversible cases, but their families leave with the certainty that they have done everything possible.
I can't write without dropping some humorous comment, because when you're sitting here all day accompanying a family member, you realize the collapse that exists; after all, this hospital has become too small for us.
Not now, but since it was built.
Beds in the style of a submarine, which should be called "hot beds" because, as soon as a patient leaves, another enters.
In a row, or in single file if you prefer, as if it were an endless line of ants that the emergency personnel keep organized in an incredible way.
But I do it, more than to criticize, to highlight the human quality of all the emergency service personnel in particular, and the hospital in general.
A staff that works tirelessly, while postponing their lunch hour because another patient arrives, another ambulance... and so on, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and all their nights.
I don't know how many doctors, nurses, orderlies, administrative staff, cleaning staff, technicians, IT staff, and the rest of the team there are on each shift. Many, no doubt, and at the same time few, if they have to postpone their meal, their rest, etc., to be able to attend to that line of patients that forms at the entrance of the emergency room, while the ambulances arrive non-stop, one after another.
Just a few years ago, when they were fighting against COVID, many went out to the balconies to applaud their courage for facing the unknown, and they called them "heroes without a cape."
But, without a doubt, the staff of Molina Orosa was not only a hero in those days, they are every day of the year: before, now, and surely in the future.
Therefore, we should applaud every day, look at them with respect, and, above all, feel grateful and proud of each one of them.
And here is another humorous comment before finishing this opinion article and open letter to the health personnel of Lanzarote, because although here I have talked about Molina Orosa, there are many more who are not here and who work in health centers, ambulances, and many other health or social health centers in Lanzarote. Without a doubt, we have a great army, which we may be making fight without providing them with the necessary weapons.
I, who am a regular at talks in the media, see that the debate often focuses on whether we should have a medical helicopter in Lanzarote or not, when the debate should be focused on: WHERE?
Where are we going to build the new hospital that will respond to this island and its inhabitants?
We don't need a medical helicopter to take us to another island; we need a hospital according to our present and future population.
That little hospital that they ordered to be built in that way in the middle of the pandemic and that has only served to eliminate parking spaces was forgotten, because years later it remains closed without us knowing what the causes are, beyond the fact that haste was never a good advisor. I have the impression that something was not done well, seeing the result obtained with this work, as well as the thousands of masks that never appeared, but that will be for a future debate. Now is not the time.
What I really want with this article is to thank, personally, each and every one of you, for your work, for your empathy towards me and, of course, towards those who accompanied me in those bad times.
THANK YOU for your courage in making difficult decisions. I'm not going to put their names; they know who they are, as do so many other anonymous people whose names I haven't had time to learn, so many good people I've found on my many visits.
Sincerely, thank you very much.
**Amado Jesús Vizcaíno Eugenio*
