“To date, all that exists is a resolution of the regional council which defines the planning of healthcare construction and the official gazette of March 2021 which confirms the INAIL 310 million euros for the construction of the Cuneo hospital. Then, literally nothing. In light of this, the further discussions relating to a project that no one has yet had the opportunity to see are interesting and worrying; we don’t even know what the commissioner will do when he becomes ‘active’ from 1 May”.
A stalemate, the one defined by the mayor of Cuneo Patricia Manassero. And not ‘Mexican’ – as one might find in an American action film – in which all parties have their weapons drawn. The city is simply, and worryingly, awaiting further pronouncements on the new hospital from the Region and the hospital.
Boselli and Lauria scold the mayor: “Why has she never expressed herself clearly?”
The question was further debated yesterday evening (April 26) in the city council, thanks to the interpellations presented by Beppe Lauria it’s yes Giancarlo Boselli (Independent). Both started from the double resignations of Elide Azzan e Monica Reboraand from some subsequent utterances that appeared in our newspaper by the same mayor regarding the preferences relating to the financing line of the new single hospital in the city.
“Resignations that took us by surprise, because with Indipendenti and Cuneo for the Commons we asked several times for a meeting with the top management of the hospital – commented Lauria – . I will not go into the exegesis of the reasons that led Azzan to resign but I will comment on the appointment of the commissioner which, to be kind, seems bizarre to us: the fact that the manager of AMOS has been called is something with respect to which I believe the position of the Joint should have been stronger. How can you think that in a moment of this type it makes sense to delegate decisions to those who, yesterday, ‘took the money’ from the hospital itself?”
“On more than one occasion, over the years, we have expressed concerns about what was happening in the hospital (the increasingly serious shortage of doctors and operators), and with respect to these it has always seemed to us that the majority of acceptance, neglect, subjection – continued the adviser – . Why didn’t the mayor, instead of telling things to TargatoCn, tell us? Now the omelette is done, Dr. Azzan is no longer there and I wonder who is the madman who knowingly wants to take her place, net of possible political gratitude, which in this country always pays”.
“We take note of the ‘new’ positions expressed by the majority, but let it be clear that this discussion is happening because the minorities have stepped on the accelerator on the issue: it is we, in an anomalous way because the mayor had every opportunity to do so, who asked for a interview with the now former general manager” concluded Lauria.
“I am convinced that all the elements to say that the Region’s choice of public-private partnership is wrong were already there six months ago when we forcefully raised the question – added Boselli – . On such an important matter, a capital municipality has two ways of proceeding: one, the one chosen, is to wait to see what the Region does, the other consists in believing that the Municipality has a big say in the matter and therefore anticipating the proposal. Thus, today, we are ‘at zero point’, in a now reiterated situation of lack of clarity”.
The Independent then increased the dose: “The mayor says that the best proposal is to build the hospital with INAIL funds, with procedures controlled by the public and as reasonably priced as possible, and says that this has always been her position. If so, no one had noticed. To say that a private management of the partnership will not end up changing the balance of territorial health is a dangerous mistake: this choice places our health policy for the next 30 years in private hands”.
“Let’s be careful and let’s not create smokescreens to correct unsustainable expressed positions or positions that we no longer like – added Boselli again – . The situation is dangerously indefinite and asking for an urgent hearing of the commissioner (whose very appointment underlines the seriousness of the situation) seems to me the minimum. It seems to me that all the conditions are being created for this project to fail: the hospital will not be built and you will have to answer to the city as to why”.
The (shared) doubts of the directors: “We need clarity, beyond the competences”
The minority forces that intervened openly took sides in favor of the two proponents.
Ugo Sturlese (Cuneo for Common Goods): “Right from the start we understood that the decision to abandon the two directors had clearly been determined by pressure from the regional council to arrive at the validation of the design of the new hospital, which I would attribute to a wave of madness. There is still no concrete commitment, in the Region, no formal act regarding our hospital; the ppp is in progress, we don’t know the specifics. The words of the regional PD on Cirio and Icardi’s health policy are far from out of place, but in our majority forces I see great superficiality and ignorance: for you, a good hospital means a nice container, it’s not like that and you still don’t convince yourself of it”.
“Finally, the reality of local health care is clear to everyone; we are going downhill in a dangerous way and it is right to demand clarity from the Region because it is a joke to say that the new hospital will be ready in four years” added the ‘colleague’ Luciana Toselli.
“I join Lauria and Boselli in hoping for a stronger position from the administration, even if we already denounced this situation in January – he said Claudius Bongiovanni (Wedge Mia) – . Times were perhaps too long: with an immediate position more weight would have been given to the choices to be made and this resignation could have been avoided”.
“The mayor’s words are, then, in clear contradiction to what the partnership will be – added Bongiovanni – because if the private sector enters public health in any capacity, the risks are very clear. It seems to me that the majority has not yet understood the point: if we continue like this we will never see the new hospital or, in the best of cases, it will exist with great management difficulties”.
In general, even the majority forces have expressed concern regarding the now protracted waiting situation. As evidenced by the intervention of Carla Santina Isoardi (PD): “The Municipality has done everything necessary, all the formal steps: we await the Region, which has so far made many words but given little substance. Cuneo deserves clear answers”.
“From Cirio and Icardi there is a lack of clarity in communications, so much so that recently they had declared that the new hospital in Cuneo was seen by the Region as the most important work in the entire health building plan – commented Stephanie D’Ulysses (Democratic Solidarity Cuneo) – . None of what was promised has happened and I doubt it will happen now; it is necessary for Cirio and Icardi to speak to us honestly about a process that they themselves wanted to undertake”.
“We have always supported the idea of public health and communicated our concerns regarding the choice of partnership, but if we are told that the alternative is to remain without a new hospital, we have to adapt – continued D’Ulysses – . The decision is up to the Region, we have always been in watchful waiting. Above all, I refuse to accept that it is said that the quality of health care in the Cuneo hospital is declining”.
“The fears that the entire majority have, have always had and until a few months ago whoever accuses us of immobility was against the hospital at Carle and did not participate in the council commissions: the mayor has always clarified her preference on the method of financing – he added Carmel Noto (PD) – . When the Region leads the way, however, we cannot say no because we have to get the hospital, even with all our doubts. And those who raise it clarify the fact that they don’t want it, this new hospital”.
To conclude the speeches, Vincenzo Pellegrino (Centre for Cuneo): “It’s paradoxical, we’re all saying the same thing and we keep barking at each other. We all want public health, INAIL funding and a new hospital, so what are we talking about? Then, mind you, there are doubts but there are also skills. And for the Municipality of Cuneo, the project concerns subservices, roads and the urban layout. Point”.
The mayor: “The partnership project must be unlocked, in order to be able to evaluate it”
The word, therefore, to the mayor. Who clarified how all the institutions involved at various levels have the achievement of the new hospital, the maintenance of the current one and the strengthening of local medicine as their main drivers.
“This municipal council, on 19 November 2018 and after months of work by the special temporary commissions, unanimously approved a resolution that reaffirmed the importance of the new single hospital by defining the preference for public funding – clarified Manassero – . This is a fact, and it was our fixed starting point”.
The mayor clarified the position maintained by her administration since taking office, namely that of not revealing the side, giving the Region any reasons to think that the city does not want this hospital (the regional health building plan includes seven works, so if someone calls out it would be all the better for the other projects). But the concerns are now tangible – even if Manassero reiterated that, officially, Azzan’s resignation still remains connected to unspecified personal reasons -: for this reason a meeting with the commissioner was requested as soon as possible.
“I don’t think it is the source of funding that makes the difference, as much as good and shared governance and monitoring, and the vicissitudes of the Tenda tunnel are an example – continued the mayor – . The partnership is an instrument envisaged by the procurement contract presented in a legitimate manner and the hospital company has a duty to evaluate it. Keeping it ‘in a bain-marie’ is what prevents us from really evaluating it. There is a lack of precise analysis and clear data, which also include the variations relating to services: this is the uncertainty from which it is necessary to get out as soon as possible”.