The new Rincón de Loix Health Centre is now serving more than 23,000 users after an investment of 5.5 million

The new Rincón de Loix Health Centre is now open and serving more than 23,000 residents of this Benidorm neighbourhood at its new location on Zamora Street, following an investment of nearly €5.5 million by the Valencian Regional Government for its construction and equipment. The city's mayor, Toni Pérez; the president of the Valencian Regional Government, Juanfran Pérez Llorca; and the Minister of Health, Marciano Gómez, visited the facilities this Monday along with healthcare staff, regional officials, and numerous representatives from the City Council, including the Councillor for Health, Ana Pellicer.

During the visit, the mayor and the president agreed that the opening of these facilities, which have been operational since March 2nd, has enabled "significant improvements in accessibility, care, and organisation" for both users and administrative and healthcare staff, addressing "an important and long-awaited need," according to Toni Pérez. Thus, the mayor pointed out that this area is being provided with a modern, state-of-the-art, innovative health centre with services that were not included in the initial project, such as the Physiotherapy room, which was added after construction had already begun and which, according to the Regional Ministry of Health, will be operational by summer.

“This demonstrates that when there is dialogue, when people listen, things can be done better, and ultimately, when we are talking about public services and public investment, that is fundamental. It's not just about doing things, but about doing them as well as possible,” the mayor added. Finally, Pérez expressed his gratitude for this investment and stated that this health centre becomes “the spearhead of a high-quality, first-rate public healthcare system.”

For his part, the President of the Generalitat emphasized that the new facilities "will not only provide the same services as the previous auxiliary clinic, but will expand upon them, adapting and preparing to meet the needs of patients," highlighting "the Generalitat's investment efforts to improve Primary Care through measures such as increasing staffing levels, implementing the Primary Care Decree, and creating the General Directorate of Primary Care."

Equipment

The new Rincón de Loix Health Centre, which replaces the auxiliary clinic that served the area on Juan Fuster Zaragoza Avenue for four decades, has a total constructed area of ​​2,726 square meters, on a 3,558-square-meter municipal plot located on Zamora Street, next to the Antonio López Football Fields. This land was ceded by the City Council to the Generalitat (Valencian Government) in 2017. The centre serves more than 20,500 registered residents, as well as another 2,550 people without an assigned doctor. In addition, it serves the thousands of tourists who stay at the area's numerous hotels and tourist apartments and require healthcare during their stay.

The centre comprises 12 family medicine consultation rooms, 6 nursing consultation rooms, and one multipurpose room, as well as a pediatric area with two medical consultation rooms and one nursing consultation room. and a women's health and childbirth preparation area, also equipped with its own gym. In addition, it has an Emergency Department, an ambulance transport room, a blood draw room, a social work room, and administrative offices.

Among the new features, the implementation of a rehabilitation and physiotherapy area is being finalised. It is expected to be operational this summer and will prevent residents who require these services from having to travel elsewhere. According to figures from the Regional Ministry of Health, La Cala Health Centre provides more than 3,400 physiotherapy consultations annually to patients referred from Rincón de Loix. Therefore, the inclusion of this rehabilitation room in the new health centre will eliminate travel and improve the quality of care for people with mobility issues.

Regarding the Emergency Department, a separate Continuous Care area has been created, which includes three medical consultation rooms, a nursing consultation room, a cardiac arrest room, and an observation room. Additionally, there are two treatment rooms where the 24-hour Patient Care Centre will be located, including a simple radiology unit. Previously, there was only one doctor's office and one nursing station.

The on-call team's rest room has also been improved, with individual spaces and equipped changing rooms. Juanfran Pérez Llorca has stated that “the Valencian Government is implementing the largest budget in the history of Valencian public healthcare,” with 9.186 billion euros, which has allowed for “significant investment in improvement works and the construction of new healthcare centres.”

“Those of us leading the Administration are accountable to the citizens, and therefore we must make the necessary changes to improve the quality of life for our residents,” the president continued. In this regard, he pointed out that “when expansions like the one carried out in Rincón de Loix or at Marina Baixa Hospital, which will have 113 new beds, are undertaken, the projects must be carefully planned to ensure they become a reality.”