Costa Cálida
Construction of new Cartagena hospital almost complete
By m.p. - Nov 19, 2009 - 11:23 AM
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The Murcia President with his health councillor and local Mayors at the site on Wednesday. Photo – www.carm.es
The 650-bed facility will open at the end of next year
Cartagena’s new 650-bed hospital is to take in its first patients at the end of next year, with construction set to be completed in January. The Regional President, Ramón Luis Valcárcel, was at the site on Wednesday to inspect progress on the new health facility which, once up and running, will provide health care for more than a quarter of a million people in Cartagena, Fuente Álamo, Mazarrón and La Unión.
The hospital will offer specialised surgery for peripheral vascular disease, with other facilities to include a burns unit, and, for cancer patients, two radiotherapy accelerators and PET-CT scan equipment.
The regional government’s total investment in the facility is more than 140 million €, some 14 million € more than was originally budgeted when the project got underway in 2005. The increased cost, according to sources at the Murcia government’s health department quoted by La Opinión de Murcia, is due to ‘technical problems and a more extensive range of services’ than originally planned.