Opposition to new hospital plans

THE socialists and United Left-Greens members of the city council yesterday spoke out against plans for the new hospital which the Balearic government will build on the Son Espases site near the Monastery of La Real, as reported yesterday.
They said that the new hospital will cost more than if it had been built on the site currently occupied by Son Dureta hospital.
Maria Costa, spokeswoman for the Majorcan Socialist Party, said that “it is by no means the best possible hospital” as it is dearer than the initial project (to be built on the site of Son Dureta) and will have fewer beds than the present hospital. “If Son Dureta is already saturated, and the number of beds in the future hospital is reduced, then the service will be very deficient,” she said.
It will also mean a greater outlay for the city council she said. In addition to the 7.2 million euros which it paid for the land, it will have to lay on public transport and water and electricity. According to the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers Party), the new hospital will have “a negative and irreversible impact” on its surroundings. A better solution would be to rebuild Son Dureta as it stands, and this would also be completed sooner than the new building. The United Left-Greens also criticised the effect it would have on the environment and the length of time it would take to complete.