Tropea, tour operators' alarm: hospital short of doctors and wards may reduce family and elderly tourism

The domino effect of Calabrian healthcare risks overwhelming tourism. The system's serious shortcomings could impact off-season arrivals from northern Italia and northern Europe, particularly the Scandinavian countries, precisely in those localities that have managed to distribute visitor flows throughout the year, such as Tropea and the Costa Viola.

Despite still encouraging numbers (around +25% of presences for the Easter holidays), tour operators are on the alert: 'The progressive dismantling of the hospital in Tropea, a first level facility, is starting to discourage, above all, third age tourism for which guarantees of health care are expressly requested,' explains Deborah Valente, ceo of the Valentour Group, which manages hotels and restaurants.

"We work with large numbers on Tropea and the Costa Viola," the entrepreneur continues, "in September we managed over 1,500 visitors, but for a couple of years now, problems with the health conditions no longer make us an ideal destination.

The hospital's endowment, as indicated in the Region's decree 360/2024, which designs the Calabrian hospital network, includes the general surgery wards with 10 beds, as well as Orthopaedics and Traumatology and Pneumology. Twenty places in Medicine, 13 in Haemodialysis, 5 in Medical Oncology, as well as the emergency room and anaesthesia, laboratories and radiology. 'But the reality is quite different,' explains Francesco Rotolo, president of the Civic Committee for the Tropea Hospital, 'Surgery and Orthopaedics are closed, and the Pneumology ward has never been opened. In Medicine, 13 actual beds due to a lack of staff, as in Haemodialysis and Oncology where several retirements are planned'. Keeping the hospital alive is a single anaesthetist who divides his time between the various wards and the emergency room.

'The situation is a major concern and causes us some embarrassment,' Valente continues. The presence of medical facilities is fundamental in our work. When there is an emergency, a cardiovascular or orthopaedic problem, caused by a fall, for example, anything can happen here. We are usually diverted to Vibo Valentia, where the hospital is already suffering, and the waits can last for days. Many times there is also a shortage of ambulances to transfer patients. Recently someone ended up at Salerno hospital.