The Plenary approved on Wednesday 29th the General Protocol of Action between the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) and the Mijas Town Hall for the construction and operation of a CARP (centro de alta resolución de procesos), which is a high resolution process centre and includes a health centre and a speciality centre. The protocol, which had the votes in favour of PP, Vox, PMP and Cs, and the vote against of PSOE, foresees that the projection and construction of the future centre will be carried out by Mijas Town Hall on a municipal plot located in the area of Parque de las Lagunas II (between IES Vega de Mijas and Parque Miramar), always following the technical guidelines of the SAS. It is a plot of 12,365 square metres which is currently classified as a public facility. After the construction of the same, assumed by the Town Hall, its use would be ceded to the autonomous body for it to be put into operation and, therefore, to have this new health infrastructure.

In this regard, the first step to build new health infrastructures in the municipality is to have the Junta de Andalucía’s Functional Plan which, as the government team pointed out, considers that Mijas is entitled to a CARP. 

From this moment, the Town Hall takes the first step with the approval of this General Protocol of Action between the SAS and the Town Hall. For its execution, the document contemplates the creation of a bilateral commission between both administrations, which will be the one to propose the specific agreements in which the commitments and obligations of each party are specified. “What we ask is that the health service in the Health District of the Costa del Sol is up to the needs of the Mijeños”, said the mayoress, Ana Mata (PP), who said that “from the very first minute I am working for the Junta de Andalucía to authorise us to make this much needed health infrastructure’. 

During the presentation of this item, the spokesman for the PP, Mario Bravo, stated, with reference to the Functional Plan, that “this is the conclusion reached by the Junta de Andalucía and it is the health infrastructure that they recommend for the population in Mijas”, and explained that “the objective is clear, to reduce the time for that first appointment, reduce the time for diagnosis and, above all, reduce the time for treatment, which are the phases of an illness and for which the Andalusian Health Service is fighting to shorten as soon as possible”. Vox, through its spokesman, Juan Carlos Cuevas Dawson, defended the construction of the CARP, without ruling out the construction of the hospital in Mijas. “I am going to vote in favour of building a proper hospital to serve Mijas and Fuengirola, and certainly Coín, but we cannot say no to something that is also necessary, which is a CARP with 24-hour emergency services, like CHARE, and that will attend to patients as quickly as possible”, he said.

Opposition stance

From the opposition, they do not understand that the government team ‘definitively abandones’ the construction of a hospital nor what they consider a ‘change of position’ of the PP and the rest of the government partners. The PSOE continues to defend the construction of a hospital for the area of Mijas and Fuengirola, even with municipal funds, and assured that, with the approval of this protocol, a golden opportunity is lost. “The one who has given in to the fact that a hospital will not be built in Mijas has been directly Ms. Mata”, said the socialist spokesman, Josele González, who was categorical with the position of his municipal group by declaring that “we are going to vote against this point because we want a hospital for Mijas, I do not want the health centre or the CARE to be moved, I want the Town Hall if necessary to provide the resources to build a hospital, the Town Hall is not stupid and we do we settle for anything or anyone, we want a hospital in our town”. For its part, Ciudadanos regretted this decision and all that it means for the families of Mijas, although it assured that, out of political responsibility, it would vote in favour. “Nobody from your party [referring to the PP] has told these technicians that with this criterion, which may be correct, in Malaga, which already has seven hospitals, four private and three public, they are going to build another, and why not here in Mijas?”, the spokesman for Ciudadanos, Jose Carlos Martín asked, and continued his claim saying that “I am going to defend Mijas and I want a hospital here in Mijas”.

Responses

In response to the opposition and regarding the “change of opinion” of the PP, Bravo acknowledged that “yes, we demanded a hospital in the past and we want to evolve towards the future, and if those who know the most about this believe that this is the best health solution for the current situation in Mijas, we have to listen to the experts”. Bravo recalled that in 2003 “the highest authority in Andalusia [referring to Chaves] said that a hospital was needed here, but never provided a piece of paper”, insisting that now the technicians say that the answer to the needs of the area is a CARP.

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