In Girona, outgoing College of Doctors president Josep Vilaplana has called on the Catalan government to start looking for funding for the new Trueta hospital. He said the wider health campus project is now irreversible.
Vilaplana is stepping down after 12 years in the post. He said his time in office was shaped by the pandemic, a shortage of medical professionals, and the long-running debate over the future of the health campus. Carme López will succeed him, becoming the first woman to lead the institution.
He said the overall result of his 12 years was positive, with many useful actions for the College. He also said deeper healthcare reforms, needed for more than a decade, have not been completed because of frequent changes in government councillors.
Vilaplana said that when he took office in 2014, one of the main tasks was to explain that Girona needed more than a new hospital, it needed enough critical mass to support a major health campus. He said that goal has now been accepted and is already under way. For more Catalonia-wide health coverage, see our news page.
He also said the College had to deal with internal financial problems and a need to reorganise its structure. His team worked to make the institution viable and organised the 2016 Congress of the Medical Profession of Catalonia in Girona, which covered digitisation, non-presential visits and social media.
Vilaplana said the pandemic showed both strengths and weaknesses in the healthcare system. Doctors self-organised, hospitals were set up almost entirely for Covid patients, and there was strong support from medical students, volunteers and businesses. But he said the crisis also exposed clear gaps, including poor preparation in both the health system and public health.
He said doctors are now more tired than a decade ago, and that younger professionals have different expectations about hours, recognition and working conditions. He also pointed to shortages in some specialities and in parts of Girona, with family doctors harder to find in areas such as the Pyrenees, Empordà, Tortosa and Central Catalonia.
Vilaplana said the arrival of many doctors trained outside the European Union creates challenges around practice, adaptation and language. The College has called for mandatory post-registration courses linked to contracts, covering Catalan, common illnesses, emergencies, CPR and how the Catalan healthcare system works. He said this remains a debt to both new doctors and the public.
