Por Redaccion The approval of the decree, which simplifies the current structure into three areas, will enhance regional hospitals and rural healthcare centers.
The Government Council has today given the green light to the update of the health map. This decision will improve management, streamline procedures, and bring healthcare services closer to populations furthest from the center, with consequent benefits for patients and professionals.
The approval of the decree establishing the new health map – the current one was designed four decades ago – marks the culmination of a long process of reflection, listening, and dialogue led by the Health Minister, Concepción Saavedra, and the Deputy Health Policy Minister, Pablo García.
The modernization of the health map, a demand shared by the majority of management experts, will have several beneficial consequences. Among them are:
- Administrative simplification. The number of areas will be reduced from eight to three: Western coast, Central-southwest, and East. Each area will have a reference university hospital: San Agustín (Avilés), HUCA (Oviedo), and Cabueñes (Gijón). A period of adaptation is planned to adjust bureaucratic and administrative structures before they come into operation.
- More services. This organization will expand the range of specialized services in each area. It will also reinforce the focus on family and community care, as well as enhancing basic health zones.
- Greater coordination. These advances will promote networking and coordination to ensure that everyone has access to the best diagnostic tools (e.g., all types of tests) and treatments regardless of where they live. It will optimize resources, both technological and professional, and advance the development of new tools like telemedicine. Furthermore, it will improve long-term planning for investments and healthcare transport.
- Strengthening of regional hospitals. All regional hospitals will be reinforced as strategic nodes and healthcare references. The ministry will drive the planned investment plans in each center to achieve this goal. These measures strengthen territorial cohesion and ensure equal access to healthcare services.
- Normality for citizens. The map update will not affect the daily lives of users, who will maintain their affiliation with their family doctor and their reference health center or hospital.
More support for ALS patients
The Government has authorized another measure today that reinforces healthcare policies: a new call for aid aimed at individuals affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Endowed with 2.1 million, it raises the maximum aid amount from 15,000 to 20,000 euros.
This decision improves the conditions of the aid line launched last year: to reduce bureaucratic burden, the Principality has modified the bases of this call so that beneficiaries do not have to provide payment receipts, allowing them to use the received money for any needs arising from the disease’s progression to improve their quality of life. These resources are granted without income limits and are exempt from taxation.
The aids, granted in a single annual payment, will be increased to 20,000 euros based on the degree of dependence: 15,000 euros in level I; 17,500 in level II, and 20,000 for level III, high dependence.
This measure complements the agreement reached at the last Government Council meeting, where a budget of 3,328,244 euros was approved to renovate the former Maternal and Child Center of Oviedo/Uviéu and turn it into a specialized facility. The works, which will be put out to tender in the coming days, have a ten-month execution period. This facility will be a cutting-edge center in Europe and, along with another similar one planned in Extremadura, the first of its kind in Spain’s public sector.
The regional and central governments will co-finance this investment: the Ministry of Social Rights will contribute 2,426,196 euros from the European Next Generation funds of the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, and the Ministry of Social Rights will cover another 902,048 euros.
Healthcare leadership change
The Government Council has approved the appointment of Irene Cid Rico (Oviedo, 1978) as the new Director General of Healthcare Planning. She comes to the position with a solid professional background that combines technical expertise with research and teaching work in Computer Engineering at the University of Oviedo. In addition to her engineering degree, she holds two master’s degrees in Secondary Education Teaching and Cybersecurity. She has over a decade of experience in software development, project management, and consulting, and has published various research studies on text processing algorithms and expert systems applied to education. She is currently the dean of the Official College of Computer Engineers of the Principality of Asturias.
Cid Rico replaces Monserrat Bango in the position, who is retiring after a long professional career in the healthcare field. The Government expresses its gratitude to Bango for her work, always with a clear commitment to public service.
Adaptation of depopulation policies
The Government has approved the Geographical Zoning Decree, a key tool to better focus public policies addressing aging and combating depopulation. This measure, included in the Demographic Boost Law, will allow actions to be adapted to the reality of each municipality through a classification into four categories based on their demographic situation: dynamic, unstable, in demographic crisis, and at risk of depopulation. With this system, Asturias becomes a pioneering region in designing specific interventions against the demographic challenge.
The decree is based on the Synthetic Demographic State Indicator of Asturias (ISDA), a tool developed in collaboration with the Asturian Society of Economic and Industrial Studies (Sadei), which will be updated every two years and analyzes ten key variables such as population density, age, migratory flows, employment rate, and birth rate. This classification will identify priority areas to receive economic, social, or fiscal incentives to attract investments, retain population, and ensure equal opportunities regardless of where one resides.
With this new regulation, the Government takes a decisive step towards a more fair, effective, and tailored territorial development model to address the different realities of the region, laying the groundwork for developing tailored policy measures that precisely meet the needs of each area.
Strengthening the regional government workforce
The Principality has approved the creation of 31 positions in compliance with the provisions set out in the 2025 Budget Law.
Among the new positions are the following:
- Ministry of Presidency, Demographic Challenge, Equality, and Tourism: Four positions: three in technical computer engineering for the Digital Strategy and Artificial Intelligence area, and one in occupational medicine to reinforce employee health surveillance.
- Ministry of Education: Eight positions to improve the non-teaching staff allocation, specifically in nursing care at special education centers and administrative management at La Corredoria High School.
- Ministry of Social Rights and Welfare: Eight positions in the Social Work Corps to increase the staff managing dependency.
- Residential Establishments for Elderly People of Asturias (ERA): Eight positions for nursing assistants to implement the new person-centered care model CuidAS at the Arriondas/Les Arriondes residence.
Support for innovation in rural areas
The Government allocates 1,580,000 euros to support innovation projects under the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan (Pepac) that contribute to the advancement and modernization of the agri-food and forestry sector and promote knowledge exchange. The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (Feader) will finance 80% of this fund, the Principality 14%, and the General State Administration the remaining 6%.
The regional investment will be multi-year: 100,000 euros in 2025, 600,000 in 2026 and 2027, and 280,000 in 2028.