Guidizollo District Pediatric Care Confirmed as Fully Covered
“The situation of pediatricians in Castiglione delle Stiviere and within the Guidizzolo district is completely under control, and there are no children without a pediatrician.” The head of the Guidizzolo health district, Dr. Antonio Donzelli, reassures the population regarding the news that had been circulated in recent days by staff from the ASL of Mantova.
Details on the Pediatricians’ Situation
“We can release the official data regarding both the pediatrician issue in Castiglione and that of the Medolesi residents who wanted to follow their doctor to Solferino. One of the most interesting and heated topics of the health situation, both in Alto Mantovano and in other parts of Italy, concerns the disruptions caused by hospital companies and ASLs. However, in this case, it is precisely the manager of one of the main districts in our province, Guidizzolo (which also includes Castiglione), who reassures users and explains how the Lombardy regional health authority’s efforts have been prompt.”
“It was reported that about 240 children would be without a pediatrician to turn to – explained Antonio Donzelli – and thus would be under the care of general practitioners. I can say, without fear of contradiction, that this is not true. In fact, as soon as, in October 1999, we received the information that the limit of 800 patients per pediatrician in Castiglione prevented meeting user needs, we increased it to 1000.”
Furthermore, we invited the already practicing pediatricians to refuse patients younger than 13 years old, to accept those under 6; finally, we also scheduled and carried out an extraordinary insertion of another pediatrician, Dr. Cavalli from Medole, who had expressed her willingness to take on patients from Castiglione.” But what caused discussion was not only the pediatricians’ situation: around 150 residents of Medole had requested to follow their own general practitioner in Solferino.
Requests and Solutions for General Practitioners
“We sent each of them a letter,” clarified Donzelli, “detailing the circumstances: it is not legally expected that if a doctor moves, a resident from another municipality can retain their GP. However, for those living closer to the new doctor’s practice in Medole (now the practice is in Solferino), we allowed them to keep that doctor.”
“For everyone else, we promptly arranged for a new doctor to be assigned in Medole.” Germano Bignotti