Ex-director fears “one-way ticket” for Arrecife’s Hospital Insular

The ex-director of Lanzarote’s Hospital Insular has criticised the Canarian Government’s decision to close the centre, which has become “a reference point for geriatric care.”

In an interview on Radio Lanzarote, Domingo de Gúzman, who managed the hospital from 1982 until his retirement in 2022, said “Why does Lanzarote have to lose a hospital that it appreciates so much?”

“It’s all confusing, there’s no transparency and we’re all worried,” he added, referring to the decision to transfer patients and staff to the Dr José Molina Orosa Hospital.

“The Canarian Government has given us very little,” he continued. “We don’t have major cultural centres, there are no big museums, no congress hall – so why do they want to take a hospital that has been operating for 70 years away from us?”

“There is no plan to renovate the hospital, no budget to do so and no schedule to return patients and staff there. I fear this is a one-way ticket,” said the ex-director. 

A demonstration in support of the Hospital insular has been arranged for the 20^th June, and a petition on Change.org has already attracted over 14,500 signatures.