Conceived in another era, with a medicine completely different from the current one, the building that houses the Hospital Clínic has become outdated, as well as small due to the incredible growth it has registered and that has positioned it as one of the most cutting-edge. The health complex responds to obsolete canons: the rooms are small; the corridors, narrow; patients are piled up; there are few windows; the emergency service is limited by the little space available and its division between different floors, which makes it dependent on stairs or elevators to transport users... The general feeling at Hospital Clínic is that a new location is needed, one that is modern and adapts to the current needs of medicine.
Furthermore, it also does not favor the hospital's operation that external consultations are located in another building or that certain specialties such as Gynecology, Obstetrics, and Neonatology are located in other spaces in the city, in this case, in the Maternitat, in Les Corts. Issues like these force patients to be referred or doctors to be moved from one place to another.
The future of the Clínic has been a concern for years. The hospital's management estimates space needs at 270,000 square meters, a figure that clashes with the lack of land in the area where it is located. "We have a very significant difficulty with space. Really, we cannot do the work correctly either from a health point of view or from a professional point of view," explains the general director of Hospital Clínic, Dr. Josep Maria Campistol. "Hospital Clínic needs a new location. We are a reference hospital and we want to continue being a reference hospital," he adds.
On the hospital's management team's table are several options, among them, locating it in the Escola Industrial, another historic space in the city with high architectural value ---its imposing chimney is the work of the prestigious Valencian architect Rafael Guastavino, also responsible for the vaults of Grand Central Station and the Queensboro Bridge in New York--- and currently dedicated to civic and educational uses. To evaluate this issue from a technical point of view, the Generalitat, the Barcelona City Council, and the Barcelona Provincial Council have agreed to create a commission of experts to propose a new location for the hospital, determining some initial consensuses.
In this commission, there will be two representatives from each of the signatory administrations and, in addition, architect Ramon Sanabria and doctor Ramon Canal will participate, both with extensive professional experience. Sanabria is endorsed for having conceived the Hospital of Olot and Comarcal de la Garrotxa, the Dexeus Clinic, the expansion of terminal 2 of Barcelona Airport, the Parliament of Andorra, and the Institut del Teatre. On the other hand, Canal has been part of the Hospital General de Catalunya, the Mútua de Terrassa Hospital and the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau and, currently, works at Fútbol Club Barcelona, as director of Sports Science and Medical Services.
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Starting points
Firstly, the protocol prioritizes preserving the location of the new center in the city of Barcelona and determines that the commission will analyze all potential possible locations within the reference area of Hospital Clínic in the Catalan capital. Specifically, this is the Àrea Integral de Salut Barcelona Esquerra, which serves a total of 523,725 patients and extends from Vallvidrera, through Les Corts and the Eixample, to Sants-Montjuïc.
Likewise, the protocol considers two options: a hospital complex conceived in a single location or in several locations in the Eixample area where the Clínic is currently located. At this point, reference is made to the Escola Industrial, emphasizing that it is one possibility among others and establishing that it can house some part of the hospital complex, but ruling out building a large building in this area.
The protocol signed by the Generalitat, the City Council and the Provincial Council prioritizes preserving the location of the new center in the city of BarcelonaThe decision will have to be adopted and approved during the first semester of this year. The determination of this calendar lies in the will of the three administrations to to present this reform project to the financing offered by European funds.
In response to the agreement signed between the three administrations, Hospital Clínic states that they are open to hearing all proposals but sets two conditions for the new complex. Firstly, it asks to maintain the location in the current reference area, the Àrea Integral de Salut Barcelona Esquerra. "This is our natural area," emphasizes Dr. Campistol. Secondly, the general director of Hospital Clínic demands that the hospital not be divided into different parts and that all specialties, assistance, research, and teaching be integrated into a single location. "This agreement is key for this hospital. It is a very important turning point that must guarantee the future of Hospital Clínic," he defends.