As virus hits Italy's south, some flee troubled health care

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. What appears to be medical tubing and a wad of gauze or paper towels litter the floor of San Giuliano public hospital which treats coronavirus patients in a bleak town in Italy's Neapolitan hinterland. But if we have a super flood, we will start suffering.” Leaving one’s region to seek better medical treatment elsewhere in Italy is so prevalent that a foundation studying the quality of the nation’s health care publishes what it calls the “flight index.” The GIMBE Foundation found that nearly all those “fleeing” local health care went north. Only weeks before the pandemic began did Campania’s public health care system emerge from years of central government control, part of efforts to cut waste and drive down costs. In response to an AP query, the Interior Ministry said Monday that the minister will decide this month whether a sprawling Naples health care district should be put under temporary control of the ministry’s local prefect — depending on if it's determined that the Camorra infiltrated its administration.