The before and after in the cure of La Rioja Baja was dedicated to the opening of the Hospital de Calahorra Foundation. This was in response to a recurring demand from the municipalities of La Rioja, particularly from Calahorra, and approaching specialized medical care for patients in La Rioja Baja.
On December 18, 2000, the new hospital began operating from a first specialty center. For La Rioja Baja, it has been a tremendous health advance. An event that officially became the inauguration of the center on June 7, 2001. 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 welcomed the opening of the hospital. The center began operating with 125 workers and 29 doctors. Number that has grown to 430 professionals in these twenty years.
The implementation of the specialties took place in phases. First, the consultations, emergencies, radiation, laboratory and hospitalization of the medical room were opened. In the following weeks, the services of surgical activity, hemodialysis, and rehabilitation would do it. But with Christmas in between, it wasn’t until after these dates that the first surgeries were performed and the delivery rooms opened. The maternity ward was one of the most appreciated at the time. Ten years ago, the old outpatient clinic ‘Nuestra Señora del Carmen’ had closed its delivery rooms, forcing women to travel to Logroño or Navarra during labor to deliver their babies.
The most prized area was motherhood, as after the closure of the outpatient clinic the working women had to travel to Logroño or Navarre.
First baby, in 2001
The first birth took place on February 5, 2001. It was a boy, Emilio José Echevarría Abadía, who weighed 3 kilos and 400 grams. His parents, Emilio and Yolanda, shared the good news in the pages of this newspaper, grateful for the treatment of the center’s staff.
Next Emilio JoseThat same year, another 310 babies 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 longer 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’: integration into the Riojano Health System. Another claim that has been upheld for years that seeks to equate its situation with that of the rest of the Riojan community health centers.