Nobody was expecting it. It should have been a meeting much like many others, a lot of words and some news. However, the news came like a bolt from the blue, taking everybody by surprise.

Yesterday evening, Friday 2 December, in the room of the convention centre of Casa Don Guanella, in Barza di Ispra, the general director of the hospital, Giuseppe Brazzoli, and the Lega Nord Councillor, Emanuele Monti, made the announcement: the hospital in Angera is closing its maternity ward.

 

As the regional councillor explained, “The State has not accepted the request for an exemption made by the Region for the ward, which is under the agreed minimum limit of deliveries.”

To keep the maternity ward, which, last year, saw around 480 deliveries, open, a development and support project was thought of. The long silence from Rome over the request made in March did not bode well. We must also remember that the battle to combine the Ondoli with the adjacent district, that of Sesto Calende, which was brought under the Sette Laghi Health Authority, was also lost.

However, there was good news for the hospital in Angera, which will receive €1 million to develop the orthopaedic and cardiology rehabilitation work, which will replace the maternity ward. Furthermore, the Emergency Department will remain open and operational, with double surgical availability.

The committee formed to protect the hospital has been critical, as it now fears a progressive winding down of the hospital. “This is bad news not only for our hospital but also for the local communities. They’ll tell us that, because of the costs, our maternity ward could no longer be supported, but are we sure that other wards won’t be in danger? And are we sure the other specialties will come? The only bitter certainty of this evening is that our hospital is losing an important part, and nothing will ever be the same. We think the right to health cannot be traded off, much less that a hospital can be based only on costs. Unfortunately, we believe this evening is just the beginning.”