Tortosa City Council is negotiating with the Catalan government over the future of two municipal health centres, the Terres de l'Ebre Clinic and the Hospital de la Santa Creu de Jesús. The plan is to integrate both into Salut Terres de l'Ebre, a public company under CatSalut.
Mayor Mar Lleixà said the talks are intended to secure the economic sustainability of the two centres, which have recorded significant losses in recent years. She said the move would follow the model used for the Comarcal Hospital of Móra d'Ebre, which was integrated into the public system.
Lleixà said the change would also strengthen the management model and health coordination across Terres de l'Ebre, with the Hospital Universitari Verge de la Cinta as the main reference hospital. She said it could help consolidate services, attract and retain professionals, and give greater security to staff and patients.
Junts per Tortosa, the opposition group, has raised concerns about a possible loss of municipal control over the centres. More local news
Lleixà said the city is working on a collaboration protocol with CatSalut to guarantee quality and economic viability, and that all stakeholders should be involved. She also welcomed a recent agreement under which the Catalan government will approve budgets that include an extraordinary fund with more resources for the two municipal centres.
She described that agreement as a way to help guarantee the survival of both centres and said it should speed up the integration into Salut Terres de l'Ebre. Meritxell Roigé, Junts spokesperson in opposition, said her party had not been aware of the negotiations and warned of possible consequences for professionals and users.
Roigé said the decision was a direct consequence of the tri-party government's inability to manage the municipal health centres properly. She said that if the integration goes ahead, it would be bad news because the City Council and Tortosa would lose control of their management.