Agreement between the Sicilian Region and the Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome for the continuation of the collaboration with the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Center of Taormina (Ccpm) until 31 December 2026, with the possibility of extension for a further 6 months. It is the outcome of a meeting that took place this morning at Palazzo d’Orléans with the president of the Sicilian Region Renato Schifani, the regional health councilor, Marcello Caruso, the general director of the Roman hospital, Antonio Perno, and the health director, Massimiliano Raponi. Present, among others, were the leaders of the Catania Polyclinic, the Messina and Catania ASPs and the mayor of Taormina Cateno De Luca. The extension proposal will now be subjected to evaluation and sharing by the Ministry of Health.
The Hospital today confirmed its availability to the Sicilian Region which had asked to continue the collaboration while awaiting the definition of the new regional hospital network, in order to guarantee maximum clinical safety and continuity of care for patients and their families. «I have followed this matter with great commitment since the first day of my inauguration – says President Schifani – because children’s health does not allow for uncertainty. This extension, the result of the institutional sensitivity of Bambino Gesù which I have always appreciated for the excellence it represents in the country, allows us to better organize the future of pediatric cardiac surgery by aiming for very high standards of care. Precisely for this reason we wanted to include the CCPM in the regional hospital network, we are now awaiting the opinion of the competent ministries, a decisive step to consolidate the Center on solid and lasting foundations. The little patients and their families can rest assured: we take care of them today and we will do so tomorrow too.”
«We are very satisfied with this result – adds Caruso – and we thank Bambino Gesù for his willingness to remain at our side until we can proceed independently while maintaining the standards of excellence provided so far. In the next few days we will work concretely with the ASPs of Messina and Catania and with the Etna Polyclinic to build a management solution worthy of the history and mission of the Ccpm. Giving concrete answers to citizens on the quality of healthcare is our responsibility and we work every day to find the most appropriate solutions while waiting for a definitive turning point that will arrive with the new hospital network.”
De Luca: “Historic day for Taormina”
«Today is a great day for Taormina, for Sicilian healthcare and above all for the hundreds of families who in recent years have looked to the Mediterranean Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Center as a center of excellence and hope». This was declared by the mayor of Taormina, Cateno De Luca, at the end of the meeting called by the president of the Sicilian Region Renato Schifani and the regional health councilor Marcello Caruso, in the presence of representatives of the Bambino Gesù Hospital, the ASP of Messina and the Polyclinic of Catania.
«For over fifteen years the CCPM has represented an excellence recognized at a national and international level, but has continued to live in a situation of administrative precariousness, moving forward from extension to extension without a certain prospect. Today, finally, everything changes. The first and most important achievement was the inclusion of the Center in the new regional hospital network, an essential element for thinking about definitive and structural stabilization”.
De Luca recalls having placed the issue among the priorities of institutional discussion with the regional government. «From the beginning of the dialogue with President Schifani I indicated the definitive safeguarding of the CCPM as one of the indispensable issues. Today we reap the fruits of that work. The review of the hospital network formally recognized the strategic role of the Taormina Center and created the conditions for a stable and lasting solution.” During the meeting, a technical extension was also defined which will allow the administrative process with the Catania Polyclinic necessary for the full stabilization of the structure to be completed.
«The agreed extension, divided into a maximum period of twelve months, will serve exclusively to complete the final administrative and legal steps linked to the definitive approval of the hospital network and the new management structure. We are no longer faced with yet another extension without prospects. This time there is a clear and defined horizon.” The mayor underlines how the conflict that over the years had fueled tensions between different Sicilian territories has also been definitively overcome.
«A season characterized by useless conflicts and a real war between the poor is coming to an end. Today it was clarified that the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Center remains in Taormina. The operational headquarters remains here, while the new structure involves the involvement of the Catania Polyclinic for organizational and training aspects, further strengthening the service and guaranteeing new growth opportunities”. In fact, among the innovations that emerged at the table there is also the prospect of strengthening activities.
«We are not simply saving the CCPM. We are building the conditions to make it even stronger. In fact, work is underway to create a specialist training center connected to the Catania Polyclinic, while maintaining the operational heart of pediatric cardiac surgery in Taormina. It is proof that a weakness can become a strength when problems are addressed with seriousness and vision.”
Satisfaction is also expressed by the regional coordinator of South Call North, Danilo Lo Giudice: «For the first time in fifteen years we are not faced with yet another extension without prospects, but with a clear path that leads to the definitive stabilization of the Taormina CCPM. This is the most important element that emerged from today’s meeting. The Center remains in Taormina, is permanently included in the regional healthcare system and the foundations are laid for its further strengthening. News that gives serenity to families, healthcare personnel and all those who have fought in recent years to defend an excellence that belongs to the whole of Sicily.”