No intention to close the birthplace of the Nostra Signora della Mercede hospital in Lanusei has been expressed by the regional health system. « There is no political will aimed at canceling the birthplace of Lanusei and we will reiterate this with the approval of the company deed . I have never expressed the intention to cancel the birthplace from the Nostra Signora della Mercede hospital», declares the regional health councilor, Carlo Doria . "On the contrary - continues the councilor - we will ask the Ministry of Health for derogations to keep a service in operation that we believe is important in a garrison that serves a complex territory also in terms of connections". However, the commitment to the hospital does not erase the worries. Concerns that I wanted to express by recalling - the commissioner specifies - that the national legislation on birth centers is clear and provides for a minimum number of 500 births a year. The Lanusei hospital does not reach this standard and in the current framework only the ministry's exceptions can intervene. We are working to find solutions that allow us to overcome the problems associated with staff shortages and, even more importantly, we are laying the foundations for a new, more efficient and rational hospital-territorial healthcare model, which leads us to not always have to think in terms of emergency, putting a patch every time. In any case, safety remains an indispensable cornerstone. Care and assistance must be guaranteed to all citizens, our goal is the same as those who defend the Lanusei hospital and health care in Ogliastra today and we will do everything possible to have the necessary exemptions to keep the birth point of Our Lady open of Mercede".

Concern for the fate of the birthplace was in fact expressed by the Honorable Salvatore Corrias who sent a question to the councilor asking for solutions. «The announced closure of the Lanusei birth point is the worst Christmas present that the new health councilor could give us, so much so as to lead us to think that he too, who is in the trade, has already fallen into the trap of the strict law of numbers - writes Corrias - If Lanusei closes today, Nuoro will close tomorrow and Sassari the day after tomorrow. And if we all go and live in Bolzano, where we are born and grow up better because there are services there, here, soon, even the cemeteries will close. It is with this frankness that I asked the commissioner, with a pre-Christmas question if he really believes that Lanusei should close its doors or if it is not better, rather, to give us a sign of optimism, which could be for us, with Christmas just around the corner, a sign of trust. We need it, Councilor Doria. For her and for us."

Even the president of the Ogliastrina social and health conference Davide Burchi considers the Birth Point an essential service for the whole territory . «The numbers have been more or less the same for many years and all the latest health councilors have shared that the birth point was indispensable for the territory - explains Burchi - we believe that that service as well as all the others existing in the hospital need to be strengthened and not to be reviewed at fault. We are happy that the councilor recently came to Ogliastra but we think that the area deserves a more in-depth visit».

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