Uruguay inaugurates new hospital in Montevideo

Statement from the presidency of Uruguay

This is an automated translation of the press release issued in Spanish

The first hospital center in the west of Montevideo was inaugurated, this Monday the 6th, by the President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Pou. It is an intelligent building with 2,471 square meters, surgical blocks, hospitalization rooms, laboratory and hemotherapy service. The total investment exceeded 16 million dollars. “We committed all our efforts to make it a reality,” said the president.

Lacalle Pou toured the new hospital that will be managed by the State Health Services Administration (ASSE), with the head of that organization, Leonardo Cipriani; the vice president of the Republic, Beatriz Argimón; the secretary and pro-secretary of the Presidency, Álvaro Delgado and Rodrigo Ferrés, respectively; the Minister of Transportation, José Luis Falero, national and departmental authorities.

"Today is a particularly important day for the entire Government team," said the president, adding: "Many neighborhoods will benefit from this work, which fulfills fair demands for more than 20 years (...) we were all committed our efforts to make it a reality.”

Lacalle Pou considered that the Hospital del Cerro was a key project for the country. The hope had to be transformed into bricks and human resources, he explained, and valued, in that sense, the role and importance of the officials who will work in the hospital center, and those neighbors who fought for this social cause.

“Today, with satisfaction, managing public money, being fair, we embrace the vocation of service (…) with a Government with a strong social component,” said the president. "Where there is a Uruguayan, the Government has to be there" he added.

“When it belongs to everyone, it belongs to each one. “Everyone paid taxes so that today the Hill can have the hospital,” he testified. Lacalle Pou concluded his speech by assuring: “There is nothing more beautiful than looking into the eyes, pledging your word and keeping it.”

For his part, Cipriani began his intervention by stating that “today the Hospital del Cerro is a reality.” He explained that the project includes, in addition to the hospital, a 100% intervention in the polyclinic that was already in operation. “Health is a fundamental right and the State has the obligation to provide it in good conditions,” he stressed. “This is a second-level care hospital that will rely on our beloved Maciel hospital,” he explained.

The total investment in the health center, including the remodeling of the health center and the SAME 105 base, was $15,000,000, to which $1,050,000 must be added for technical equipment, Cipriani detailed.

The Cerro Health Center will have a better departure base for ambulances; an office of the Ministry of Development (Mides), and a Civil Identification office, dependent on the Ministry of the Interior, Cipriani detailed. In this regard, he highlighted the decentralization carried out by ASSE, which brings health care with all the necessary services to users who requested it.

The new hospital is located on land given on loan by the Institute for Children and Adolescents of Uruguay (INAU), and 229 new officials will work there, adding to the 128 who were already working at the polyclinic, added the leader.

Falero, meanwhile, expressed that there was a country commitment focused on serving those who "are most neglected." “It is the commitment that we have assumed as a Government from day one,” he recalled.

Characteristics of the Hospital del Cerro

It is the first hospital center in the western area of Montevideo; It is located on Avenida Dr. Santín Carlos Rossi and Carlos María Ramírez and occupies 2,471 square meters of surface, distributed over 4 floors. In addition, it has 30 beds, four for anesthesia recovery. The building is classified for its intelligent architecture, with fiber optic cabling, renewable energy, central heating and new equipment. It has a laboratory, a hemotherapy center and two surgical blocks.

Once the oratory part was over, the traditional ribbon cutting took place, and later the authorities took a tour of the hospital facilities.