Benevento's San Pio emergency department is at the center of a local debate over stretcher shortages, overcrowding and long waits. The political party Azione Benevento, through Filomena Di Mezza, has described the situation as a structural problem in the relationship between the hub hospital and the surrounding local health services, rather than an isolated episode, and has put forward five proposals to reorganize local health care.
The debate follows a separate statement published the previous day by Fernando Errico, who reported insufficient stretchers, blocked ambulances and prolonged waiting times. That statement linked the shortage to bed availability, the time needed to transfer patients to wards, and the management of admissions, and called for closer coordination among the hospital, local services and the Territorial Operations Centers.
No official figures on the number of missing stretchers, average waiting times, bed occupancy rates or blocked ambulances were available in the sources consulted.
The five proposals
The plan presented by Azione covers community care, discharge management, remote care, accredited private facilities and the role of the city's second hospital.
- Make the Case di Comunita operational
The first proposal calls for making the Case di Comunita operational with stable medical and nursing staff. According to the proposal, these community facilities would handle primary care, chronic conditions and low-acuity white and green codes.
- Centralize discharge management and strengthen out-of-hours care
The second proposal concerns centralized management of hospital discharges, planning of post-hospital care and stronger Guardia Medica out-of-hours medical services. The Territorial Operations Centers are identified in the accompanying debate as possible tools for filtering hospital admissions and managing supported discharges.
- Activate telemedicine and remote assistance
Azione proposes stable activation of telemedicine and telesoccorso to follow chronic and frail patients at home. The proposal presents home follow-up as the intended approach for these patients; the sources do not state or quantify what effect this would have on emergency visits.
- Greater use of accredited private facilities
The plan calls for greater use of accredited private health facilities for scheduled procedures and post-acute rehabilitation. The sources describe this as part of the proposed reorganization; they do not state that this shift would free a specific amount of capacity at San Pio.
- Stronger role for Fatebenefratelli
Azione asks for greater involvement by Ospedale Sacro Cuore di Gesu Fatebenefratelli and for strengthening its emergency department, with the stated aim of distributing emergency loads more evenly between the city's two hospitals. The sources do not confirm whether Fatebenefratelli has already started any expansion or upgrade of its emergency department.
How the proposals fit together
Read together, the five points focus less on adding stretchers alone and more on the pathways into and out of the emergency department. Community facilities, out-of-hours doctors, remote follow-up and Territorial Operations Centers are presented as ways to manage demand before patients reach San Pio, while discharge planning and post-acute rehabilitation concern what happens after hospitalization.
The reported connection between delayed discharges, occupied beds, waiting stretchers and ambulances unable to return to service reflects how local commentators describe the pressure on the emergency department. The sources do not establish the precise causal sequence or how much each factor contributes to the current situation.
What is not yet decided
The five measures are political proposals. The sources consulted do not indicate that they have been adopted or funded.
Several points also remain unverified: the relative weight of delayed discharges, bed shortages, inappropriate admissions or staff shortages, and whether Fatebenefratelli has already taken steps to expand its emergency capacity. Any assessment of the plan will depend on staffing, funding and implementation details that are not included in the available reports.
