The message that “New Democracy is the party that offers a real governing solution to the country’s issues” was sent yesterday, Tuesday (June 16), by Kyriakos Mitsotakis during his visit to the Municipality of Vari–Voula–Vouliagmeni.
Mr. Mitsotakis was the Korbi stream, where he inspected the flood control projects currently underway. These specific interventions are part of a broader plan to protect residential areas from extreme weather events, which have been occurring with increased frequency in recent years. Infrastructure resilience has emerged as a critical issue for both local government and the central government. The projects along the Korbi stream are among the top priorities for addressing the flood risks threatening the region’s residential areas.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis then visited the Vari Health Center, which was fully renovated with funds from the Recovery Fund and has seen a significant increase in staff, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited that afternoon. Accompanied by Deputy Minister of Health Marios Themistokleous and the Mayor of Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni Grigoris Konstantelos, the Prime Minister was given a tour of the renovated facilities by the Center’s Director, Maria Kravvaritou, and had the opportunity to speak with staff members and citizens.
The Varis facility is one of 156 Health Centers being upgraded throughout Greece, along with more than 90 public hospitals, as part of a plan to substantially improve primary care and the National Health System (ESY) more broadly. The Varis Center features an Emergency Department, a Radiology and Ultrasound Department, a laboratory, and specialized clinics, while its staff has grown by 23% compared to 2019, now numbering nearly 50 people. With funding from the TAA, renovation, modernization, and energy efficiency upgrades were carried out on the 1,200-square-meter building. As noted during the tour, visitor numbers at the Health Center increased by 19% last year compared to 2019, and last year alone it received 37,264 visits.
Concluding his visit to the Health Center, Kyriakos Mitsotakis emphasized in a statement: “At the beginning of our term, we set as a central goal to utilize the resources of the Recovery Fund to carry out the largest-scale infrastructure project in the National Health System since its establishment. And here, the Varis Health Center is just one example of the 156 Health Centers that are being completely rebuilt with European funds. A Health Center dating back to 1989, which was in poor condition, has been practically rebuilt from scratch, and is now equipped to provide quality primary care to tens of thousands of residents, Mr. Mayor, in the wider region. I would like to extend a special thank you to the doctors, the nurses, and all the administrative staff. It is you who keep the National Health System afloat.
Subsequently, Mr. Mitsotakis visited a well-known café in Voula, where he spoke with local residents, as well as friends and local New Democracy officials. “The overhaul of the National Health System was a top priority of our second four-year term,” the prime minister emphasized, among other things. “Everything we’ve done in healthcare shows that, beyond the sterile political debate, what matters to citizens is what will make their lives better. We haven’t made empty promises,” he added.
“Many people think I’ve launched some kind of informal election campaign because I intend to call elections earlier. What I’m doing here today, I’ve been doing for three years, and I’ll continue to do it until the elections,” he noted pointedly.
