Before and after healing La Rioja Baja was marked by the opening of the Hospital de Calahorra Foundation. In this way, a recurring request was met from the municipalities of La Rioja, especially Calahorra, and with which specialized medical care was brought closer to the patients of La Rioja Baja.
On December 18, 2000, the new hospital began operating from a first specialty center. For La Rioja Baja, it was a major health breakthrough. Quite an event that, on June 7, 2001, the inauguration of the center became official. Jose Maria Aznar, then President of the Government of Spain; Celia Villalobos Villalobos, Minister of Health; Pedro Sanz as President of La Rioja; José Ignacio Ceniceros, Aránzazu Vallejo, Javier Pagola … A large number of national and regional authorities applauded the opening of the hospital. The center began operating with 125 workers and 29 doctors. Number that has increased in these twenty years to 430 professionals.
The implementation of the specialties was done in a staged manner. First, the consultations, emergencies, x-rays, the laboratory and the hospitalization of the medical area were opened. In the coming weeks, surgical, hemodialysis and rehabilitation services would do just that. But, with Christmas between them, only after these dates the first operations were performed and the delivery rooms were opened. In fact, the maternity area was then one of the most appreciated. Ten years ago, the old “Nuestra Señora del Carmen” polyclinic closed its delivery rooms, forcing working women to travel to Logroño or Navarra to deliver their babies.
The most popular area was maternity, because after the polyclinic closed, women in labor had to travel to Logroño or Navarra.
The first child, in 2001
The first birth came on February 5, 2001. He was a boy, Emilio José Echevarría Abadía, who weighed 3 kilograms and 400 grams. Her parents, Emilio and Yolanda, reported the happy news from the pages of this newspaper, grateful for the treatment offered by the center’s staff.
by Emilio JoseIn the same year, another 310 children were born. During these two decades, the hospital has seen the birth of 10,500 boys and girls from Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Cervera, Autol, Rincón de Soto, Aldeanueva de Ebro, Pradejón … A long list of municipalities, where they live more 74,000 Riojans, who have had specialized medical care close to home for twenty years.
The hospital’s 20th anniversary also comes with a “gift”: its integration into the Riojano health system. Another statement made for years and which aims to equate his situation with that of other health centers in the Riojan Community.