Salud appoints eleven permanent ophthalmologists to hard-to-fill positions

The Management Directorate of the Aragonese Health Service has appointed eleven physicians as permanent statutory staff in the category of Area Specialist Physician in Ophthalmology, assigning them positions in Aragonese hospitals. The decision is formalized in the Resolution of August 6, 2026, published in the Official Gazette of Aragon, number 162, of August 21, 2026 (official reference: BOA20260821002).

The appointments correspond to the candidates who passed the extraordinary selection process for the provision of hard-to-fill positions, via a competition system, convened by the Resolution of January 20, 2026, and published in the Official Gazette of Aragon, number 25, of February 6, 2026. The call was processed through the open category, general disability, and gender violence, and is framed within Decree-law 2/2025, of June 11, and Decree 10/2026, of January 14, which approve extraordinary measures to guarantee the provision of hard-to-fill positions for licensed statutory health personnel with a degree as a Specialist in Health Sciences.

Assigned Destinations

The eleven positions are distributed among three hospitals in the Aragonese territory, all of which are in areas with a chronic deficit of specialists:

• “Ernest Lluch Martín” Hospital (Calatayud Sector, Zaragoza): Irene Blanco Domínguez, Marta Ciprés Alastuey, Sara Marco Monzón, and Elena Pardina Claver.
• “San Jorge”-Jaca University Hospital (Huesca Sector): María Chacón González, Cristina Hernando Hernández, and María Pilar Ruiz Del Tiempo.
• Barbastro Monzón-Fraga Hospital (Barbastro Sector, Huesca): Luis Pedro De León Monzón, Jorge Sánchez Monroy, Claudia Sanz Pozo, and María José Vicente Altabas.

Conditions of Incorporation and Permanence

Those appointed will have a period of one month to report to their destination and take office, the count of which will begin on September 1, 2026. Anyone who does not report within that period will forfeit their right, unless an accredited impossibility exists, and the convening body may request a complementary list of candidates.

In accordance with the basis of the access system, the appointed personnel must effectively and permanently join the active service to acquire permanent status, and certify three years of permanence at the assigned destination before being able to participate in transfer competitions or internal promotion. Failure to incorporate or lack of permanence without justified cause will prevent the completion of the appointment and will nullify their actions in the process.

The resolution, which does not exhaust administrative remedies, may be appealed via an administrative appeal (recurso de alzada) before the head of the Department of Health within one month of its publication. The document is signed by José Julio Gil Pardo, Director of the Economic-Administrative Area, substituting for the managing director.

Relevance for ophthalmological care

The consolidation of these eleven positions strengthens ophthalmological care in regional and sector hospitals that have faced historical difficulties in filling their staff. By granting permanent status to professionals already practicing in these centers, the Aragonese Health Service guarantees stability and continuity of care in a specialty with a chronic shortage of physicians, reducing turnover and waiting lists in the areas of Calatayud, Huesca, and Barbastro.

Source: Official Gazette of Aragon, number 162, of August 21, 2026, Section II (Authorities and Personnel), section a) Appointments (official reference: BOA20260821002).