For CGIL Calabria, the news of the loss of funding for the community houses of Cariati and San Marco Argentano clearly represents the distance between political narrative and reality.
These are strategic measures for local healthcare, designed to ensure proximity of care, care of citizens and alleviation of pressure on hospitals. Their failure to implement is not only a missed opportunity, but yet another confirmation of a failure in the planning and management capacity of Calabrian healthcare.
The numbers of failure: Calabria vs National Media
Of the 63 Community Houses planned in Calabria as part of the Pnrr, only 2 have at least one declared active service, with an activation percentage of 3.2% against a national average of 45.5%. Far from overcoming the commissionership: the numbers certify a system that is still at a standstill and incapable of spending the available resources.
Risky investments and failed promises
Yet, the Region plans to make the network operational by 2026, with an investment of around 350 million euros. In recent months we have witnessed a succession of announcements, claims and communication operations which today clash with concrete facts: works never started, resources lost, territories left without answers.
We cannot continue to talk about healthcare improving while, in reality, funding is lost and essential services for citizens are given up.
The CGIL proposal: a new healthcare model
The popular initiative bill promoted by the CGIL goes exactly in the opposite direction to what is happening in Calabria: strengthening local healthcare and making community homes fully operational as a fundamental local support.
The text focuses on the strengthening of local services, with structural investments, more staff and an organization capable of guaranteeing the effective care of people, starting from the most fragile subjects.