The symbolic laying of the first stone dates back to March 28th, but after almost two months, in the premises of the Vito Fazzi hospital intended for the treatment of eating disorders, nothing has been done. And it could not be otherwise, given that, according to what filters from the ASL, There is still no project to adapt the spaces, nor an economic framework for the expenditure items, therefore, obviously, no tender for the award of the works. Despite this, the president of the regional council, Loredana Capone, in the role of godmother of the event, with at her side the outgoing mayor of Lecce, Carlo Salvemini, running for the second term in the local elections next June, announced that Bari would come over two million euros «for the renovation of the day building and to create welcoming rooms in the Vito Fazzi hospital so that patients with the most serious cases can have continuous assistance».
A promise to which the president of the regional council thought she would add the gift of a peach tree she herself had planted in Fazzi’s garden, as a sign of good luck. In the ASL offices, everyone seems taken by surprise. A question still remains unanswered: how can there be funding of over two million euros for a project that doesn’t exist? And again from ASL circles comes a clarification: «No work can be financed if there is no project». According to rumours, immediately after the request for clarification sent by the Corriere to the ASL, the request to the technical area to prepare the project plan as soon as possible to implement the promises made was made by the top levels of the health company. In short, it would seem that a foundation stone laying ceremony was celebrated for a project that does not exist, perhaps because it has fallen into oblivion or because it remained in the intentions of its proponents.
Yet, Loredana Capone had been quite clear: «A great emotion this morning (March 28th, ed.) for a long battle that has seen us on the front line for years. The Region has allocated over two million euros.” Meanwhile, the area intended for treatment of eating disorders has remained intact: a long corridor overlooked by some medical offices. Nothing else. The twelve beds announced by Loredana Capone are, at least for now, nothing more than an immaterial concept which, however, many patients have been waiting for for a long time, for the treatment of cases that can also be very serious. The regional councilor of «La Puglia Tomorrow», Paolo Pagliaro, who has carried out inspections several times in the Eating Disorders Center at the headquarters of the former Opis of Lecce, is very displeased: «After years of announcement policies from the Region, it remains the hospitalization center for eating disorders in Lecce is a mirage. All in quicksand, as I have been reporting for three years now, since I brought the first hearing to the Regional Council to ask for precise interventions to support girls who suffer from this devastating disease, which strikes at an increasingly earlier age and which also drags families into the tunnel.” And again: «The start of work was announced on March 28, but not even a sign of the construction site».
Angelo Ubaldo, father of a patient who suffers from eating disorders, hopeful that Salento could soon equip itself with the promised structure, does not hide his indignation: «In 2023, the health commission proposed the creation of two structures in Lecce, one for the acute ones, with around ten beds, and a residential department with twelve post-acute beds. Now I learn with great regret that the promises made last March for the construction of 12 beds at Fazzi have not yet been kept.”
