During her debut in Seville as a candidate to lead the Andalusian PSOE, supported by the party apparatus, the first vice president of the Government and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, referred to one of the main weaknesses of the Andalusian Government: health . He assured that currently “There are many people who cannot receive health care” in Andalusia and pointed out that “many relatives call me to ask me what they are taking because they cannot care for them at the health center or hospital.” Montero is a doctor specializing in surgery and her first positions on the Board were linked to her profession, first as Deputy Minister of Health (2002-2004) and then as head of the branch (2004-2013).
One of his star measures, which slowly took shape in his different responsibilities in public health, was the so-called hospital merger. An initiative that crystallized in Granada and that caused widespread discontent among professionals and patients. The Ministry of Health had planned to extend this merger to Seville, but the matter exploded in the hands of the then president of the Board, Susana Díaz, causing the loss of socialist power in Andalusia after numerous demonstrations that They warned of the perverse effects of the measure. In 2013, just before leaving her responsibilities in the health area to become a Treasury advisor, Montero defended tooth and nail the merger, which did so much damage to the public system. He assured that it was a process that would go “from the bottom up” and that it would include debate among professionals because, in his opinion, “democracy is necessary in the health sector.” All this after the Andalusian Parliament approved a Non-Law Proposition in which it urged the Board to paralyze the hospital merger process until it was negotiated with the social agents. Then, he pointed out that his department was not going to do “any convergence project from an office or from instructions that must be followed, but it is much simpler.” It was, he said, a professional debate between those “They work at the bedside with patients”so that they could later raise their proposals that would be discussed with the Ministry, the union organizations and the rest of the agents involved.
Montero changed positions and the hospital merger order was approved a year later, specifically on November 21, 2014. In this way, the San Cecilio and Virgen de las Nieves hospitals were unified into the Granada University Hospital Complex. Soon operational problems and criticism from professionals began. Patients also warned of difficulties in assistance, with multiple delays and waiting lists that were growing considerably. Citizens took action and began to demonstrate. First in Granada and then in other provinces, under the leadership of Dr. Jesús Candel “Spiriman”, who became the main scourge of the Andalusian Government. Candel channeled widespread discontent and revealed the weaknesses of health management. Even good news, such as the opening of the new Health Technology Park (PTS) hospital in 2016, became a problem due to the chaos generated. The matter took such a magnitude that Health Ministers had to resign and the Board, overwhelmed, repealed the merger in 2017.
In this way, the Central Hospital Area of Granada was divided into two health areas, each with a reference hospital and attached centers, ensuring that each hospital center had its own management and direction structures.