The Health Counselor of the Junta de Castilla y León, Alejandro Vázquez, has indicated that at this moment various alternatives for the Tres Árboles residence building in Zamora are being analyzed, while he has reiterated that the construction of a new center is already underway, "modern, accessible, innovative, and fully adapted to the care model," with 180 residential places and 15 day center places.
During the Plenary of the Cortes of Castilla y León, Vázquez responded to the representative of the Socialist Parliamentary Group, Jesús Iñaki Gómez, who expressed the existing concern about a possible dismantling of the current facilities.
In formulating his question, the socialist representative focused on the delays in the construction of the new complex referred to by Vázquez, whose completion had initially been set for June 2025, in addition to mentioning the increase in the expected cost and the reduction of 12 places compared to the project presented in May 2021.
Gómez has demanded to maintain the Tres Árboles residence, which he described as a social priority in light of the increase in the population over 80 years old in the province of Zamora and the waiting lists in public centers. He also emphasized the importance of ensuring the quality of life of the 167 current residents, in a building that opened its doors in 1974.
"We are in debt to the men and women who brought us here. They deserve that we provide them with the utmost care," Gómez stated in his speech before the hemicycle.
On the other hand, the Health Counselor defended the Junta de Castilla y León's commitment to renewing dependency care in the province, with an investment of over 26 million euros aimed at adapting resources to the new care model.
Vázquez insisted that the plan will mean "more capacity, better services, and facilities designed to offer closer, personalized, and higher quality care."
The counselor detailed that the current building is over fifty years old and presents "severe" and "incompatible" architectural and structural limitations with the current accessibility and safety requirements. As he recalled, the technical reports from the social dialogue agreement supported the construction of a new residence due to the infeasibility of a comprehensive reform of the property.
Vázquez has denied that cuts are being made in the public network and has specified that the Board is studying possible uses for the Tres Árboles structure, whose ownership belongs to the General Treasury of the Social Security.
To conclude, the counselor has called on the opposition not to feed "fictitious debates" about a center that will not be closed and has emphasized that the new residence will represent a historic advance for social care in Zamora.