Naples – This isn't a scene from a 1970s genre film, but the stark reality of the emergency room at the Ospedale del Mare. In the main healthcare facility in eastern Naples, the shortage of medical supplies has led to a veritable "black market" in emergency services: illegal stretchers rented out for a fortune to waiting patients.
The complaint: "400 euros for one night"
The testimony of Ornella, daughter-in-law of a ninety-year-old patient who arrived with a code orange status, opens Pandora's box. Her story, reported by Corriere del Mezzogiorno, describes a systematic profiteering scheme.
"There aren't enough stretchers for those arriving by ambulance," the woman explains. "Employees from private companies come up and ask if their relative has been 'unstretched.' Then they make an offer: 30 or 40 euros an hour to rent a stretcher. We paid around 400 euros so my mother-in-law wouldn't be left stranded all night. It's disconcerting."
This incident was not an isolated one, but one that affected other hospital users, forced to give in to blackmail in order to guarantee a minimum of dignity to their suffering loved ones.
The intervention of the NAS and the political storm
The gravity of the incident prompted the NAS Carabinieri to conduct an immediate inspection of the facility to ascertain responsibility and identify those running the illicit business.
On the political front, the reaction was harsh. Gennaro Sangiuliano (FdI group leader in the Campania Region) and Raffaele Maria Pisacane (secretary of the Health Commission) called the affair "disconcerting."
"If it weren't a tragedy, it would be the plot of an Italian comedy," the two Brothers of Italy representatives declared. "It's yet another example of a regional healthcare system that has lost control of the territory, leaving citizens in the hands of vultures who profit from desperation and public health."
The investigation will now clarify how it is possible for private individuals to operate undisturbed within (or immediately adjacent to) a critical area such as the emergency room, transforming a constitutional right into an abusive luxury service.
In short
Naples - This isn't a scene from a 1970s genre film, but the stark reality of the emergency room at the Ospedale del Mare.
- In the main health center in East Naples, the shortage of medical supplies has reportedly given rise to a real…
- The complaint: "€400 for one night" The testimony of Ornella, daughter-in-law of…
- The story, reported by Corriere del Mezzogiorno, describes a system of systematic profiteering.
Key questions
What is the main point of the news?
Naples - This isn't a scene from a 1970s genre film, but the stark reality of the emergency room at the Ospedale del Mare.
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In the main health center in East Naples, the shortage of medical supplies has reportedly given rise to a real…
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The complaint: "400 euros for one night" The testimony of Ornella, daughter-in-law of a ninety-year-old patient who arrived...
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