Community Mobilizes for Hospital Services through Online Petition

Over 700 signatures collected within a few days as part of the online petition launched on Change.org by Mariarosaria Oropallo to request the convening of an open City Council meeting regarding the issue of the "De' Liguori" hospital facility. As stated in the text published online, "given the worrying news about a further downgrading of Sant'Alfonso Maria De' Liguori and the possibility that the Emergency Room becomes a first response point, ceasing service at 8 PM, and considering that the fate of the hospital is proceeding in a direction opposite to what was established for the hospital by the Campania Region with Dca 41/2019, which configures the structure of Sant'Agata as an 'Emergency Room Presidium in a disadvantaged area', and considering that 'this situation will, in fact, deprive the population of the most basic healthcare assistance', the promoters of the appeal highlight that 'citizens are asking for the immediate convening of a single-topic and open City Council on the issue of De' Liguori, involving the mayors of the municipalities served by the hospital, associations, committees, and citizens so as to form a united front for a cause that involves everyone." In a note, comments from those who support the request are also summarized. There are those who highlight, like Raimondo C., that "The emergency room cannot close and all services must be enhanced as approved by the corporate act Aorn San Pio of 2023 so that the right to health is guaranteed and the rightful dignity to the hospital facility and those who work there is restored", and others (Anna S.) state that "A first aid community hospital is also essential for outpatient services, there is no assistance nearby. Caserta and Benevento are not only far away but also very busy." Lucia T., on the other hand, specifies: "I sign because in disadvantaged areas people continue to die due to the lack of basic services and it seems that nobody cares", while Vincenzo I.: "I sign because it is not possible to watch indifferently the death of a hospital, which is literally vital for a geographically extensive area that goes beyond the province. This is even more absurd, if we consider the state of San Pio, on which De' Liguori depends, which absolutely cannot guarantee the right to health to the citizens of the province. San Pio, instead of strengthening our hospital, plunders it of equipment and personnel."