Tolosaldea Public Health Platform Criticizes Manager's Response

The platform denounces a lack of transparency and information regarding the new hospital and Asuncion Clinic.

Generic image: A group of concerned people in a meeting room, with a blurred background of a modern hospital facade.
IA

Generic image: A group of concerned people in a meeting room, with a blurred background of a modern hospital facade.

The Tolosaldea Public Health Platform (TOPA) has expressed its concern about the future of healthcare in the region and the agreement with Asuncion Clinic, following an unsatisfactory response from the manager of Tolosaldea OSI, Mari Luz Jauregi.

In early April, TOPA requested a meeting with Mari Luz Jauregi, manager of Tolosaldea OSI, to clarify their doubts about the new hospital. The platform voiced concerns about the future of healthcare in the region and the agreement with Asuncion Clinic. Initially, they sent Jauregi a document outlining these concerns.
TOPA members are not «at all satisfied» with the manager's response. Jauregi stated she has no authority over the management of either the new hospital or the Asuncion Clinic, and therefore does not see the need for a meeting. The platform denounces a «lack of transparency and information», adding that «once again, citizens' concerns have gone unheard».
TOPA understands, to some extent, the lack of significant authority regarding the new hospital, but does not accept the lack of authority on matters concerning the Asuncion Clinic. According to the platform, the OSI management must evaluate whether the private clinic meets public healthcare standards, and the manager of Tolosaldea OSI is primarily responsible for the integrated management of the region. She must oversee the compliance of the signed healthcare agreement and ensure that hospital services are properly coordinated with the primary care health centers in each area.
Furthermore, TOPA highlighted the responsibility of organizing and supervising services and medical staff. In this regard, they state that there is a «complete lack of information and transparency» in Tolosaldea. As an example, they mention that information on doctors' specialties, previously available on the clinic's website, has disappeared, and doctors who are already retired or have moved elsewhere are still listed. This information gap causes concern among citizens.
The platform denounces the «lack of coverage we will suffer during this transition period of six years or more» until the new hospital opens. They recall that Tolosaldea is the only region in the Basque Country with a private clinic serving as a reference hospital. TOPA believes that with the new center there will be gains in «publicization», but warns that the region will «once again be an experimental ground for hidden healthcare cuts», and that they will not have «a complete hospital», but rather «more bricks and fewer resources».
TOPA disagrees with the model imposed by the Basque Government and calls on the responsible parties to explain to the public the advantages of the center they are building, compared to the public hospital in other regions.