C.M.W. Maó
The Santa Rita public health centre finally opened its doors to its first residents last Monday. Five people moved into the centre as residents and two attended as day visitors. Over the course of the next few weeks more residents will arrive gradually until the full complement of 70 is reached by 1st March and the number of people using the day centre will rise to 20.
Half of the 39 members of staff who will be employed at the centre have already started work, the others will gradually be incorporated up to mid February. Once the centre is fully operational, a further 20 people may be employed.
The week prior to the centre's opening, future residents and their families were invited to tour Santa Rita to see their rooms and the facilities, such as hairdressing, that are available.
The Santa Rita centre cost 8.5 million euros to build and a further 1.1 million to equip. Its opening brings the number of public residential places in Menorca to 394, day centre places to 119, convalescent to 12 and palliative care to four.