The inhabitants of the municipality of Huasco and its surrounding area have received some good news. President Gabriel Boric has inaugurated the new infrastructure of the Manuel Magalhaes Medling Hospital, a project that will replace the old Community Hospital founded in 1967.
The new 6,368 m2 facility has emergency services, 11 hospital beds, telemedicine, ophthalmological primary care, dental care and radiography, and midwifery and gynaecological care.
In total, more than 11,000 inhabitants in the municipality of Huasco will benefit, as well as the inhabitants of Freirina for minor surgery, palliative care and pain relief.
The President highlighted the importance of community participation to promote this infrastructure, which will improve living standards for the inhabitants of Huasco and its surrounding area.
"I am happy that we are here today to bring you good news, with the inauguration of this new hospital. And it has been done, I understand, with the participation of the local community, because it has been thanks to you all, to all the social leaders, that this has been able to move forward, who insisted time and time again on the importance of a space like this,” Gabriel Boric, President of Chile.
“This new infrastructure will improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of Huasco, and also the people of Freirina who receive treatment here. We will be able to process most of the samples taken for laboratory tests here; some will still have to be sent to Vallenar, but people will no longer have to go to Vallenar to take tests,” he explained.
The President also emphasized that the facility has an ophthalmology room with modern equipment, more hospital beds, a new stimulation room for children, and a nursery to meet the needs of workers with children.
Royalty
President Boric also took the opportunity to commit to the construction of the Faculty of Medicine at the Universidad de Atacama.
“I want you to note the importance of being able to talk directly with people when we go out into the field, because it speeds up the processes. For example, they told us that, due to different procedures and back-and-forth between the Public Works Ministry and the Social Development Ministry, upgrading of the Faculty of Medicine at the Universidad de Atacama was stopped. We are going to get it moving forward, Governor, as soon as possible. I am personally committed to it, because we want those who study in the Atacama Region to be able to stay in the region and have all the necessary conditions to do so,” he stated.
With regard to the importance of the royalty for regions throughout Chile, he indicated, “I am very happy that after a long, long tug-of-war in which we also had to cede a little – we would have happier if we did not have to – but we managed to get the royalty moving forward. And we are now going to have US$450 million available each year to distribute among the municipalities that need it most, with special emphasis on the municipalities with mining activities. This means that municipalities here, in the Copiapó Region, like Tierra Amarilla and also Huasco, will receive a significant number of resources.”
“So, this is great news, because you are going to have more resources to attend to your needs, with the urgency that you determine. With the resources from the royalty, 24 hospitals like the Manual Magalhaes could be built, and that means that we will get there faster,” he concluded.