Ministers of Health and Public Works lead the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Puerto Varas hospital

By Ministry of Public Works of Chile

The Minister of Health , Ximena Aguilera; The Minister of Public Works , Jéssica López, and the Undersecretary of Assistance Networks, Osvaldo Salgado, visited the Los Lagos region to participate in the first stone ceremony for the Puerto Varas hospital, a work that was born from a heartfelt demand from the community and that will contribute to improving the operation of the network in the region.

"Everyone has put their efforts to advance in all these processes and that it has been possible to comply with a community that has been asking for the hospital for 20 years, that the land has been purchased, that the works have begun, that we know that there were archaeological findings, and that construction has resumed, I believe it is very important because this hospital will provide new services to those that exist today," said Minister Aguilera.

The new facility will have an area of 59 thousand square meters, will have 190 beds and will benefit 158 thousand inhabitants of the communes of Puerto Varas, Cochamó, Llanquihue, Frutillar, Fresia and Puerto Montt (Alerce sector). In addition, it will have different specialties such as internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, geriatrics, radiology, pathological anatomy, physiatry, among others.

“This new hospital really means a lot of things. It means this possibility of advancing in the network, it means this possibility of having new specialists, it means, by the way, being able to unclog the Puerto Montt hospital and it means hope and a possibility of development that helps push this city forward. It means that we will be able to open new beds for needs that have advanced in the burden of diseases, mental health, for example. We know that we have a huge mental health gap and, precisely, this hospital will contribute to partially closing that gap,” the authority explained.

The Minister of Public Works, Jessica López, highlighted the community's effort in the development of this work and emphasized the MOP's commitment to the construction of health facilities.

“This is a hospital that has been greatly desired for many decades and in which a lot of management by the neighbors has been developed to complete a hospital that has had its history, because archaeological remains were found here, which meant stopping for a while the construction of the hospital, but we have been on the ground for several months now and this process deserved this milestone of the first stone. The Ministry of Public Works is deeply committed to the role it has assumed for the construction of the hospital network throughout the country and this is a hospital that is part of that network,” he stated.