Although the Museum of Natural Sciences at the University of Guadalajara is an important project, at this time in the midst of the pandemic, the priority is to attend to the health infrastructure.
140 million pesos will be reallocated for the accelerated construction project of the Hospital Civil de Oriente and the reinforcement of the medical infrastructure throughout Jalisco. Hospital Civil de Oriente will benefit 500,000 inhabitants of the eastern Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, and will make it possible to address a historical lag in health infrastructure in this area.
Governor Enrique Alfaro Ramírez insisted the museum project was important, but health must be a priority, and he added that he does not want to pay a lawsuit with the House of Studies, and that he has been a Governor who has supported the University.
“I simply say that the project of this museum is important, but today health is more important, and the assessment made by legislators is that, if at this moment we have to give priority to health when building the Civil Hospital of Tonalá, today it is more urgent than to make a museum. So, it is not a false debate. It seems to me that it is putting on the table the criteria for prioritizing public spending, and that is a process that we follow at many times. We sacrifice some projects to give priority to others," he added.
“Today we are defining priorities and the proposal… was attended by the Government of Jalisco. There is no more, I will not pay a dispute, or a lawsuit. All I am saying is that I trust that neither the University of Guadalajara nor any public institution will lend themselves to the bossing of any person, and that we maintain our institutional communication as it has always been. There is no more than that. We are going to speed up the construction of the Hospital Civil de Oriente in the municipality of Tonalá because it is an urgent work, especially in the midst of all these circumstances,” declared the Governor.
"The health issue will be addressed as a priority, and support will be given to the Civil Hospitals of Guadalajara," he added.
Alfaro Ramírez, expressed that communication with the Rector Ricardo Villlanueva Lomelí has always existed, and it has been demonstrated that the University has been part of the Health Board that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic, in which together they have made early decisions that led Jalisco to manage the crisis well. In fact, he commented that the UdeG and civil hospitals were represented today at the Board of Health, and that the decision to return to face-to-face classes was taken at a table with the presence of the Rector.
He expressed that the Hospital Civil de Oriente will reinforce the medical infrastructure in the state, to which priority has been given in the portfolio of projects in this pandemic. As demonstrated with the facilities of the Regional Hospital of Cihuatlán, opened in recent days, it is urgent to expand the health care capacity throughout the entity.
He added that this logic will not generate an atmosphere of tension with the University of Guadalajara, and trusts that the institution will be above personal visions.
“I have been a Governor who has supported the University of Guadalajara and I will continue to do so, so let's not get hooked on lawsuits and very personal agendas. The University has our support,” he said.