THE‘Italy, Country that has always been divided into twofor job opportunities, infrastructures, economic development, it is even more so as regards healthcare. It is therefore no coincidence that, practically all the excellence hospitals present on the boot, are in the north. The numbers are merciless: of the 21 centers of care considered of excellence by the Ministry of Health, Ben 12 are found in the northern regions, 7 in the central ones and just 2 in the South.
Two -speed health: hospitals of excellence in the North, deficiencies in the South
This sad and unfair photography emerges from the ranking of the Sole 24 Ore on the quality of Italian hospitals, built on two fundamental parameters: The number of well -kept patients And the ability to manage the most complex cases. The result, It is a map that tells a lot about the inequalities still present in our country and even more in our health system.
Milan dominates, Naples Arranca
On the podium of the best Italian hospitals we find three Milanese structures. In the first place is Galeazzi with 145.3 points, followed by the Humanitas of Rozzano (129.3 points) e from San Raffaele of Milan (94.6 points). But, Lombardy, alone, boasts five of the best structures in Italy, a concentration of excellence that has no equal in the rest of the country. In addition to the trio of the head, in fact, there are also the Niguarda (twelfth place with 46.2 points) and the San Matteo di Pavia (sixteenth with 33.6 points). To find, however, a hospital in Excellence in the South, you have to go down to the fourteenth place, where it appears The Hospital of the Colli di Napoli.
Italy of two -speed care. Only 2 out of 21 hospitals are in the South. Hundreds of thousands of patients forced to emigrate for specialist treatments (Getty Images)
The “Travel of Hope” business
This geographical disparity, in addition to the injustice itself, also generates a now consolidated phenomenon: the “travel of hope”, that is Hundreds of thousands of southern patients who date back the boot in search of better care. A movement that, in 2023, had a cost of 3 billion euros, a figure that, beyond the economic question, although important, tells stories of families forced to leave home, affections, work to chase the hope of a better care. A figure that testifies how deep the gap between North and South is.
That North full of excellence
The picture of Italian health excellence, meanwhile, features different regions of the center-north protagonists. In addition to Lombardy, Veneto can count on three excellent hospitals: the Integrated University Hospital of Verona, the Sacred Heart Don Calabria always in Verona, and the Hospital of Padua. Piedmont has two structures: the Mauriziano Umberto I hospital in Turin and the health company Antonio e Biagio and C. Arrigo in Alessandria. And the Liguriaof only one, the San Martino Polyclinic of Genoa.
The center also gets away
Moving a little further down, Three other excellence are located in Tuscany: the Pisan University Hospital, the Sienese one and the Careggi of Florence. Lazio also defends itself well, always with three structures: The Gemelli of Rome, the Bio Medical Campus of Rome and the San Camillo-Forlanini. With a single structure of excellence we find Emilia Romagnathe Sant’Orsola Malpighi, the Marchethe University Hospital of the Marche region, e Pugliathe Casa Hospital relief of the suffering of San Giovanni Rotondo.
The plan of the minister to rebalance the system
Faced with this scenario, the Minister of Health Orazio Schillaci has announced a plan to reorganize the national health system. The project provides for the creation of third -level “national reference hospitals”, structures that will have access to the most modern medical equipment and necessary health personnel. These centers will be financed directly from Rome e they will have to guarantee a very high level of care in complex sectors Like cardiac surgery, neurosurgery and pediatric oncology. All good intentions, at the moment, that it is expected to turn into facts.
A challenge for the future
The reform, says the minister, will not be limited to hospitals, but will also deal with A reorganization of the family doctors systemwith a delegated bill that could already come after the summer. The general idea, for now only imagined, is to create a more efficient and more equitable health network, capable of reducing distances between North and South. There is only waiting for and hoping that the strategy will be implemented. In the meantime, the sure thing is that, For millions of southern Italiansat the moment, The possibility of taking care near the house without having to emigrate to the north is still a mirage.
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