The mayor of Montilla, Rafael Llamas, held an institutional meeting with the Minister of Health, Presidency, and Emergencies of the Junta de Andalucía, Antonio Sanz, during the latter's visit to the municipality for the inauguration of the expansion of the Hospital of Montilla.
During the meeting, the mayor conveyed the main demands from healthcare professionals and users of the Hospital of Montilla to the minister, aiming to enhance care quality and restore management capacity to the center, which serves the entire Campiña Sur cordobesa region.
The primary request was the fulfillment of the commitment made by the Junta de Andalucía in 2022 to create an independent health area integrating the hospitals of Montilla and Puente Genil. According to Llamas, the dissolution of the Alto Guadalquivir Public Business Health Agency and the integration of the Hospital of Montilla under the direction of the Hospital Infanta Margarita in Cabra has distanced daily management from the center, hindering procedures previously resolved autonomously, such as hiring professionals or acquiring supplies and medical equipment.
Rafael Llamas stated that “this loss of autonomy is one of the main concerns of the healthcare staff,” who consider it “essential to return decision-making power to the Hospital of Montilla to streamline its operations and respond more effectively to the population's healthcare needs.”
Furthermore, the mayor highlighted that the inaugurated expansion represents “only a part of the initially planned project.” He recalled the need to undertake the second phase of modernization, which includes the comprehensive renovation of the Traumatology, Radiology, and Endoscopy services, as well as the adaptation of the Intensive Care Unit, an increase in the number of beds, and the construction of a fifth operating room, an infrastructure deemed necessary by professionals to handle the rise in surgical activity and reduce waiting lists.
Another topic discussed was the situation of emergency medical transport in the area of influence of the Hospital of Montilla. Llamas presented the dysfunctions caused by the current organization of the ambulance service, according to professionals and users, which often involves responding to calls in municipalities assigned to other reference hospitals. This circumstance leads to prolonged periods where immediate availability of medical transport resources is lacking in the vicinity of the Hospital of Montilla, causing concern among citizens and professionals.
Antonio Sanz acknowledged that the organizational model implemented after the disappearance of the Alto Guadalquivir Agency has aspects that can be improved. In this regard, he informed the mayor that the Ministry is working on a study to analyze the creation of two health areas with differentiated management or the implementation of other organizational formulas to restore greater management autonomy to the hospitals of Montilla and Puente Genil.
The minister also committed to studying the other issues raised during the meeting and thanked the mayor for directly conveying the concerns and demands expressed by professionals and users of the Hospital of Montilla.
For his part, Rafael Llamas positively assessed the minister's willingness to engage in dialogue, while insisting that “Montilla needs concrete commitments and a timeline of actions to recover the hospital's management capacity and complete the pending investments to offer healthcare that meets the needs of our residents.”
