The summit scheduled for yesterday in Syracuse to take stock of the new hospital in Syracuse was canceled at the last moment. The assembly of mayors was waiting for the extraordinary commissioner Guido Monteforte and his staff for an official communication on the adjustment of costs for the construction of the indispensable healthcare structure. A few hours after the meeting, explains a source close to the mayors, the request for a postponement arrived because – they explain – the updating of prices and the revision of the project had not yet been completed.
The president of Anci Sicilia, Paolo Amenta, mayor of Canicattini, becomes impatient. “We are waiting for some news to arrive on what is actually needed to build the Syracuse hospital, as a level II DEA (the maximum regional healthcare offer, ed.). Are there or not financial coverages? You can’t even know this. Meanwhile in Catania they have built three hospitals and we are supposed to not even know what is happening. Let’s wait calmly.” A calm that cannot be eternal. Almost four have already passed since the announcement of the commissioner model that would lead to the construction of the hospital in three years. Of the hospital, however, only computer graphics renderings and videos exist.
“Now the problem is the price adjustment. We hope that in order to contain the costs of available resources, the requirements of the healthcare facility will not also have to be revised”, says Amenta. In short, the fear is that in the end we will end up building a smaller hospital compared to the forecasts initially advertised. “I remember that we are talking about a public work, to be carried out through public funds. And I remember this because we almost keep a hidden communicative attitude, as if it were a private affair, when instead every little step that is taken should be made public. Citizens must always know what is happening.”
At the end of February, the director of the regional health department, Salvatore Iacolino, indicated the times for the construction of the Syracuse hospital: “We plan to deliver the works by the end of 2024, the construction will take three years in five with all the health services”. And from Syracuse, in a quick visit, the President of the Region repeated like a mantra “the hospital in Syracuse will be built”. But at the end of May, in the absence of information and discussion with the commissioner structure, he requires an effort of faith to believe that those time indications can be respected.
The mayors of the province of Syracuse, meanwhile, are clear in their position. The construction of the new hospital in Syracuse must take place entirely with public funds, without private involvement and without breaking up the work in multiple lots.
The Syracuse Civic Observatory relaunches and strengthens the appeal for clarity on the new hospital in Syracuse. “Next Monday, Prime Minister Meloni will sign the agreement with the president of the Sicilian Region for the use of several billion euros from the Development and Cohesion Fund. There is money for the Bridge and 250 million destined for healthcare infrastructure: 130 for the new hospital in Gela, 50 for the Ismett in Palermo, 70 million for a generic renovation of the hospital network. Of these almost 7 billion in total, nothing for the new hospital in Syracuse”, reads the note. “The Schifani government announced one hundred million months ago from the residual funds pursuant to art. 20 of law 67/88 – declare the president of the Civic Observatory Salvo Sorbello and the two deputies Donatella Lo Giudice and Alberto Leone – but we do not know that they have arrived to date. Commissioner Monteforte has not yet officially communicated how much money is needed to obtain the full financing, which is essential to finally provide Syracuse with the new hospital, as it is also the only Sicilian capital not to have a newly built structure. We are not interested in fueling any controversy, nor are we interested in listening to promises and commitments that have followed one another for decades. The citizens of the province of Syracuse – conclude the managers of the Civic Observatory – already penalized in health matters, have the sacrosanct right to know how much the new hospital will cost, where the funds that are still missing will come from and in how long”.
The climate becomes surreal. Public opinion is starting to lose patience and is notable for its usual silent resignation. Many, too many words surrounding the construction of the new hospital in Syracuse. From today there must only be room for concrete facts and documents on paper.
