The Mallorcan Institute of Social Affairs (IMAS) has purchased the plot of land next to the inner courtyard of the Huialfàs residence with the aim of doubling the 47 places currently available at this IMAS-run centre in Sa Pobla and enabling more dependent elderly people in the area to be admitted to a public residence near the municipality.
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The president of the Council of Mallorca, Catalina Cladera, the councillor for Social Rights and president of IMAS, Sofia Alonso, the vice-president of IMAS, Jaume Tortella, the mayor of Sa Pobla, Llorenç Gelabert, and the island’s director of Social and Health Care, Elsa Herranz, today visited the land where the expansion of the current building is planned.
“Today is an important day. The purchase of this plot of land will allow us to increase the number of residential places in the north of Mallorca, which is an area with considerable demand. We are investing in local public resources to improve the wellbeing and quality of life of the island’s dependent people who, logically, prefer to be close to their usual place of residence, as this helps them to maintain contact with their existing social network of family, neighbours and friends,” said Catalina Cladera.
For her part, Councillor Sofía Alonso explained that “the Huialfàs residence is built very much like an old Mallorcan house and is located within the village, which favours the autonomy of the residents, who feel it as if it were their home. This is the essence of the person-centred care model that we are implementing at IMAS. The extension of the centre will allow us to continue the transformation of care and make the centre more comfortable, integrated into the community and functional, where the user will find all the services they need”.
The acquired site is the only one adjacent to the centre. It is located in S’Oli street, occupies a surface area of 1,065 m2 and the purchase cost 350,000 €. Once the transaction has been formalised, the IMAS is working on the project to expand the residence, which, in addition to increasing the current capacity, also includes locating the district base there, from where other resources and programmes for the elderly that the IMAS develops in this area of the island will be coordinated, such as the Comprehensive Home Care Service (SAID), the cognitive stimulation workshops and support for family carers, among others.
The mayor of Sa Pobla, Llorenç Gelabert, stressed that “the extension of the residence is very good news for the town and, in general, for the region, and responds to a request expressed by the governing bodies of the municipality and also by the opposition”.
Right now, the Huialfàs residence has a total of 47 places, which could be increased to more than 80 with the extension of the centre. This would mean an increase in the 845 residential places that IMAS manages directly through its residences: Hogar de Ancianos (252), la Bonanova (350) and Oms-Sant Miquel (96) in Palma, Bartomeu Quetglas (100), in Felanitx, and Huialfàs (47). To these will be added this autumn the Son Caulelles in Pòrtol, with 100 places, and by the middle of next year, the refurbishment of Miquel Mir in Inca is expected to be completed, which will have 40 new residential places for dependent elderly people and 25-day centre places.