The head of the Cardiac Surgery Service of the Hospital La Fe de València, Juan Martínez León, thanked on behalf of all the winners the Generalitat distinctions awarded on October 9, with "pride and joy, but also responsibility and commitment to continue working" in their different fields "so that the Valencian Community continues to be a national and international reference."
"Thank you for the distinctions that have been awarded to us and that make us proud and fill us with joy," said Martínez Leon, who was in charge of delivering the speech on behalf of all the winners in the traditional institutional event and who collected the distinction. to scientific merit for the Cardiac Surgery team that he directs at the Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe.
The doctor recalled that this team performed the first heart transplant in the Community in 1987 and today has already operated on 1,008. "This places us in the select group of the twenty hospitals in the world that have achieved this," he highlighted.
Martínez has stressed that the distinction is a "collective" award resulting from the work of different groups and the donors and their families, "the fundamental basis of the transplant activity." He highlighted the different teams involved, including the Cardiology group led by Dr. Almenar, who "give our patients a survival rate of over 80% at five years."
He has also referred to "Dr. Cano of Pediatrics, because our group also performs pediatric heart transplants with 96% survival," and the Anesthesia and Resuscitation Group, led by Dr. Argenti and Pajares," as well as nurses. , UCI teams and coordination, among others.
"The best hospital in the world does not exist, just as the best healthcare in the world does not exist, generically speaking. What does exist is the level of excellence. That excellence is what the Valencian Healthcare and Hospital La Fe have. An excellence which have allowed him to perform more than 1,000 heart, 1,000 lung and 3,000 liver transplants," he noted.
Regarding the rest of the winners, he pointed out that for an athlete the greatest motivation is the victory of the competition, but "social and institutional recognition is also fundamental for their activity", in reference to the members of the Spanish rhythmic gymnastics team and the national team footballers.
Likewise, he has stressed that the emergency, security and civil protection services that worked in the fires of the summer of 2022 and that have received the Distinction from the Generalitat, "deserve the recognition of Valencian society" because their members "work day after day , almost from anonymity and taking risks to protect our lives and the natural heritage that we enjoy." Along the same lines, he highlighted how the Food Bank "fights to help those most in need."
Regarding the distinction for business and social merit that has gone to the Carmencita company, he highlighted that it is "a great example of a Valencian family business."
He also stressed that the recognition of the pyrotechnician Reyes Martí with the distinction for equality, remembering that she was the first woman to fire the mascletà in the Town Hall square. She has also indicated that, with the distinction for cultural merit, "the success" of the Social Security group is officially confirmed. "What a paradox! A doctor talking about social security without patients," she joked.
He also highlighted that Nino Bravo's family can receive recognition "for someone who, 50 years later, continues to sing in his homeland." "And what could be better for a land of joy like Valencia than having an ambassador like Carlos Latre?" He added.
