Valeggio Hospital Transfer to Verona Hospital Company for Rehabilitation Center
The hospital structure in Valeggio appears in the book on healthcare wastefulness, uniquely representing the Veronese area. The dossier concerns 128 ghost hospitals — unfinished or non-operational structures — visited in Italy by the healthcare inquiry commission mandated by the Senate. The commission, chaired by Senator Enrico Pianetta of Forza Italia, has established that Italy has spent up to twenty-five billion euros on constructing these facilities.
Specifically, in Valeggio, for the development of the hospital complex—which includes 56 beds and six day hospital spots—9.359 billion euros have been spent to date: approximately 167 million euros per bed. The average wastefulness across other regions, as outlined in the volume published after three years of investigation by the commission, is 335 million euros for smaller structures and 283 million euros for those exceeding 600 beds, reaching the extreme case of the Sant’Andrea hospital in Rome, where each bed is valued at 708 million euros, followed by the «Papardo» in Messina, close to 600 million euros.
Interventions and Completion Projects
The Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the Healthcare System, initiated by Palazzo Madama, conducted an inspection in Valeggio in the spring of 1999. “To definitively complete the complex,” the commission now states, “would require 8.5 billion euros, according to the project submitted to the Region by the Local Health Authority (Azienda Sanitaria Locale, ASL). The project envisaged converting the fourth floor into a rehabilitation ward with an additional 33 beds and approximately 30 beds on the fifth floor for rehabilitation or residential healthcare assistance (RSA).” This completion has been deemed unnecessary by the Region, given the current excess of beds in Veneto (6.4 per thousand inhabitants) compared to legal requirements.
“Negotiations are underway with the University of Verona,” the commission reports, “for the completion and transfer of the incomplete area of the complex.” However, many developments have taken place since the spring of 1999, and for the hospital, now marked as a symbol of wastefulness, new prospects are expected to open.
Since yesterday, control of the hospital has definitively shifted from ASL 22 to the Verona Hospital Company (Azienda Ospedaliera di Verona). This entity has already indicated to local administrators its intention to complete the hospital to establish a specialist rehabilitation center supporting city healthcare facilities.
The agreement, which formalizes the management transfer, was signed recently by Michele Romano, General Director of the Verona Hospital Company, and Filippo Marelli, Director of ASL 22 of Bussolengo. As of yesterday, activities within the Valeggio hospital are managed by the Verona Healthcare Company, except for those related to the health district and dialysis services, which remain under the responsibility of ASL of Bussolengo.
The staff (excluding dialysis personnel) has been transferred to the Verona Healthcare Company: comprising 105 employees and five university doctors. ASL 22 will continue, albeit temporarily, to provide personnel for radiology and digestive endoscopy activities, while the centralized booking center of the Bussolengo company will handle appointments for Valeggio.
The building and all equipment have been granted free use to the Hospital Authority. This temporary measure is being taken while seeking a final solution regarding property ownership issues.
But what is the development plan for the hospital’s rehabilitation activities? The program agreement signed the other day only specifies that the reorganization of rehabilitation services will begin based on a technical document prepared by a joint hospital-university working group, following approval from the Regione.
