Lombardy Approves New Healthcare Plan with Hospital Developments at Lake Garda
The three-year strategic plan of the Azienda Ospedaliera di Desenzano has been definitively approved by the Regione Lombardia. The directions for the next three years are now operational. In its resolution, the regional council approved the establishment of the gastroenterology unit at the Ospedale di Manerbio, which already features an excellent endoscopy service performing approximately 5,700 endoscopic exams annually.
Changes in departments and new projects
Consequently, a new chief of department will be established. Conversely, the general medicine ward at the Leno hospital will be dismantled: the activity of routine hospitalization will therefore be concentrated solely at the Manerbio facility. However, the most prominent news concerns the approval of two important projects that shape the future of healthcare on Lake Garda: the construction of the new hospital in Roè Volciano, with a potential merger with the Fasano hospital (which is a dependency of the «Civile» in Brescia), and the project for establishing a clinic for outpatient and private practice activity in the area adjacent to the Monte Croce di Desenzano hospital.
Details on new hospitals and financial resources
The total surface area planned for the new structure in Roè is approximately 13,000 square meters, with an estimated cost of over 40 billion lire (partly financed through self-funding, and partly with project financing). Essentially, this is the healthcare sector’s gamble for the 2000s along the Garda Riviera. The new hospital will maintain the existing diagnosis and treatment psychiatric services and other current services available in the Salò hospital.
Clinical project and properties for sale
The other project involves the creation of a clinic equipped with an independent operating block, which would compensate for the temporary unavailability of the existing one, in anticipation of its full renovation. It will be a facility «specifically aimed at providing outpatient and inpatient services under private practice regime.» It will be built on a site near Monte Croce.
To raise new financial resources, the Azienda Ospedaliera is currently putting some of its properties up for sale: an apartment in the historic center of Desenzano, and a lemon house in a village in Alto Garda. The estimated value is around 800 million lire.
Equipment and efficiency rankings
Among the works and equipment soon to be delivered are the new digestive endoscopy unit on the same floor as the medicine department in Desenzano, led by Walter Piubello, and the new MRI machine, highly anticipated by healthcare staff and patients who otherwise would have to go elsewhere.
Recently, the Azienda Ospedaliera di Desenzano was mentioned in an investigation conducted by «Sole 24 Ore» regarding waiting times. The facility ranked third in Lombardy and seventh in Italy. Researchers, who also served as writers for the economic newspaper while posing as ordinary citizens, examined five of the most requested diagnostic exams by users.
Qualitative assessments and care centers
Last year, following a study conducted by the University of Verona, the Azienda Ospedaliera di Desenzano was found to be of good standard: reassuring information was provided by interviewed patients and citizens surveyed in a sample study. The Regione finally approved the palliative care and rehabilitation center at the Ospedale di Salò. The operational unit of oncology was not confirmed.
Final comments from the general director
The conclusions on this plan come from the general director, Angelo Foschini: «Our policy rests on an absolutely indispensable assumption: the commitment to guarantee the best, most qualified, and timely service to citizens, while employing public funds as efficiently as possible, without waste. All conducted with maximum transparency».