Andalucía's regional government promises activation of 80% of services at Estepona hospital
The regional minister of health has held a meeting with the mayor of the town, after which he confirmed his commitment to recruiting 58 professionals
Regional minister of health Antonio Sanz has held a meeting with mayor of Estepona José María García Urbano to discuss the local hospital. In a social media post following the meeting, Sanz confirmed that he had announced his commitment to activate 80% of the services at the hospital, "including surgical block, functional tests, laboratory and radiodiagnosis 24 hours a day".
"All this will be possible thanks to the incorporation of 58 new professionals," the regional minister said. In November, Sanz met with protesters advocating a fully operational Estepona hospital at the inauguration of the Ricardo Soriano health centre in Marbella. The encounter ended with Sanz pledging to answer their demands.
On Saturday, 29 November, he announced that 80% of the services of the Estepona hospital will be up and running. The facility that cost the town hall 18 million euros currently has three operating theatres and 40 consultation rooms closed. In addition, it lacks effective emergency services.
The hospital, which will serve a population of 120,000 people in Estepona and the surrounding area, was inaugurated by president of the regional government Juanma Moreno. Although initially operational, the three surgeries were closed in July 2023, after less than a year of being open and more than 1,300 major outpatient surgeries.
Distribution of the new employees
Antonio Sanz emphasised that hiring professionals to enable the hospital to reach 80% operational capacity "is not about increasing numbers, but about bringing in the strategic profiles that allow the hospital to function as it was designed". According to the regional government, the approved distribution "exactly matches" what the hospital proposed: 20 medical specialists (including six anaesthetists, four general surgeons and three orthopedic surgeons assigned to the hospital's surgical unit), 14 nurses, ten nursing care assistants (TCAEs), six laboratory technicians, three radiology technicians, two administrative staff and three orderlies.
Until now, this hospital centre has had 78 professionals and its activity has been limited to outpatients, rehabilitation, partial radiodiagnosis and emergencies. "With the new staff, the workforce will rise to 136 professionals, which will allow the opening of the surgical block, the opening of new units and the expansion of both the care and diagnostic capacity of the centre," head of the Andalusian government delegation Patricia Navarro said during the meeting with the regional minister and the mayor.
With this increase in staff, the surgical day hospital will be opened; the functional tests unit will be activated, incorporating endoscopy activity; and diagnostic capacity will be expanded thanks to the 24-hour operation of the laboratory and radiodiagnostics. Emergency services will also be expanded.
In terms of new healthcare infrastructure, the regional government has reported that a fire safety project is planned for next year in the hospital's warehouse for an amount of 190,000 euros. Likewise, until June 2026, 8.8 million euros will be allocated to the purchase of equipment for the extension of pavilion B of Hospital Universitario Costa del Sol and for the replacement of equipment at the Estepona centre, of which 2.07 million are being executed in 2025 and 6.76 million euros will be spent next year.
