34 health professionals have stayed in tourist apartments offered by Hosbec and the City Council

A total of 34 health professionals have been housed in tourist apartments offered by Benidorm City Council and Hosbec employers at the disposal of the health personnel of the Comarcal Hospital de La Vila Joiosa, Hospital Clínica Benidorm, IMED Levante and health centers in the city. A service that has allowed these health personnel “to have a safe, comfortable and risk-free accommodation alternative for themselves and their families, since we are talking about professionals who have been working on the front line during the coronavirus crisis”, indicated the mayor, Toni Pérez.

This alternative accommodation "has been operational for 45 days, coinciding with the hardest moments of this health crisis, with which we are still struggling but in a different scenario marked by the entry into the 1st phase of the restrictions lifting plan." "Still," he added, "we have to remain prudent and very responsible, because the situation has not been overcome."

The mayor recalled that "prior to the launch of this initiative, agreed between the City Council and the property through the hotel management, Hosbec offered the Health Department various establishments in Benidorm for their medicalization and to welcome mild patients that they had passed the hospital phase ”; while the Consistory made available to the regional administration "the facilities of Palau d'Esports l'Illa, with the capacity to house hundreds of hospital beds in case of need." "Finally, fortunately, the health situation in the Marina Baixa department has not required these complementary facilities," he pointed out.

Toni Pérez explained that “the accommodation service for health professionals has been managed through the Collective Help Network (#RAC) launched by the City Council and has been possible thanks to altruism and social commitment and with the employer's city hotelier Hosbec, which from minute one has made health safety and solidarity the pillars of its action during this Covid-19 crisis. ”

The mayor highlighted "the involvement of the company Hotels GF, a member of Hosbec and in one of whose establishments this service has been provided"; and he thanked "other tourist companies in the city for their interest in joining this project, also offering their tourist apartments".

Apart from the these health professionals, 9 other were interested in this free service, although they finally did not use it. Most of the staff who have stayed in these tourist apartments work at  La Vila Joiosa Regional Hospital; and about half of these professionals are nurses or nursing assistants.

Toni Pérez has clarified that "although we initially addressed this initiative to the health professionals of Benidorm and our regional hospital, we have also been able to attend to personnel from various parts of the region and even others who provide services in nearby health departments, what which is undoubtedly a satisfaction since our operating radius has crossed the borders of the Marina Baixa and we have reached out to those who most needed it ”.

During the time that this accommodation service has been running, the City Council has been in charge of cleaning the facilities. Thus, a four-hour cleaning was carried out every day in the common areas, and a deep cleaning one once a week. In addition, in the last days, at the end of the service, a complete and in-depth disinfection of both the apartments and the rest of the facilities has been carried out.