Monopoli-Fasano ribbon-cutting ceremony sparked controversy: the Health Councilor and the Undersecretary deserted the new hospital.

Yesterday, outgoing governor Michele Emiliano was not present at the "official inauguration" of Asclepios 3 at the Bari Polyclinic. Today, however, the health councilor, Raffaele Piemontese, will not be at the inauguration of the Monopoli-Fasano hospital. Emiliano, who had strongly supported the event, had to rush to Taranto to attend the Ilva factory meeting. Piemontese, however, will be held up by other commitments in the Gargano. Coincidences, both, but the feeling is that there's some tension surrounding healthcare inaugurations.

Two years ago, Emiliano had already "inaugurated" Asclepios 3, where on July 5, 2023, he conducted an "inspection" to confirm that the department "is already operational, with patients admitted." Everyone has forgotten that that pavilion is one of the great unfinished projects in the Puglia healthcare system: a contract awarded in 2012, work completed in 2021 (Covid has only a limited role to play). The new development presented yesterday is the start of operations at the regional trauma center, with operating rooms (including those already in operation) that also serve the transplant center's doctors, as well as its completion with high-tech equipment (including those already in operation).

The Asclepios 3 contract was awarded to Cobar of Altamura, the same company that built the Covid hospital at Fiera del Levante (in a tender that the Bari Prosecutor's Office claimed was rigged without the winner's knowledge). It was from there—once the emergency was over—that some of the equipment and furnishings reused in the new pavilion arrived. The Asclepios 3 contract was also the subject of an investigation by the Bari Prosecutor's Office, sparked by a complaint from M5S activist Antonella Laricchia, which was also closed. It emerged that the Bari Polyclinic (under the then general director, Vitangelo Dattoli) had also awarded the Altamura firm, without a competitive tender, the renovation of the pneumology department (€5.3 million) and the completion of the administrative services building (€6 million). The same pattern was seen at the Fiera di Milano Covid hospital, for which only the former head of the Civil Protection Department, Mario Lerario, and former official Antonio Mercurio are on trial.

Today, the Puglia healthcare circus moves to Monopoli, for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new 299-bed hospital, which—unlike Asclepios 3—will not open until December. Many have expressed concern over this decision to inaugurate without actually opening, a decision strongly supported by Budget Councilor Fabiano Amati, who (as councilor and chair of the Health Committee) fought harder than anyone else to bring the project to completion. Yesterday, Amati recounted the hospital's history, from design to procurement and construction, in a long video on social media: "The beauty of this story, for me, is that I played a part." But the controversy continues, especially since the work is not yet fully completed and the hospital is largely empty. And yesterday, Undersecretary of Health Marcello Gemmato (FdI) wrote to Emiliano and Amati to announce that he will not be present and to ask for the inauguration to be postponed: "I believe it is my duty to reserve the presence of the Ministry of Health and the government until the facility is fully functional, operational, and, above all, able to fully accommodate patients."