Two areas inside the Olímpics Vall d’Hebron municipal sports centre have now been converted to provide care for 132 non-critical Covid-19 patients, referred there from the Hospital de la Vall d'Hebrón. The centre is the first of four such facilities to be put into operation. It will be followed by the CEM Guinardó, to take patients from the Hospital de Sant Pau as from Thursday, and the Claror Marítim, to take patients from the Hospital del Mar from this weekend.
The first temporary hospital, set up inside the CEM Olímpics, is now operating at 100% of its capacity and providing care for a total of 132 patients. The centre already had 22 patients before taking on the rest. The centre houses non-critical patients, who are cared for using the same hospital equipment (oxygen, x-rays, blood testing material etc.) and by the same staff from the Hospital de la Vall d’Hebrón. Patients are referred to the centre from the A&E service at the hospital or from its wards.
The Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron has created special Covid teams to care for patients affected by the illness, made up of doctors, nursing staff, auxiliaries and other professionals.
Municipal services have been made available to the Barcelona Health Consortium to enable the temporary centres to be set up.
Three more temporary hospitals to start operating soon
The other three facilities being converted into temporary hospitals are two sports centres, which will be operative this week and provide support for the Hospital del Mar and the Hospital de Sant Pau, and the Hotel Catalonia Plaza, providing support for the Hospital Clínic. The Barcelona Fire Service, with collaboration from Metges sense Fronteres, are still working to get the centres operative as soon as possible.
The goal is to be able to treat up to 600 patients in these centres, helping to prevent Barcelona’s main hospitals from being overwhelmed. A municipal technical office is coordinating logistics and material to enable the centres to operate as medical facilities, while the Government of Catalonia’s Ministry of Health is to provide the health staff and care criteria.
At the same time, information systems teams from the hospitals, the Municipal IT Institute and the Government of Catalonia’s Telecommunications and Information Technology Centre (CTTI) are working to ensure the four centres can connect to be able to consult patients’ medical files and that patients can access public wi-fi.
Support for the city’s healthcare system
The operation, entitled Pavelló Salut, comes in addition to the various initiatives to provide extra support for the city’s medical facilities. These include Hotel Salut, an initiative by the city’s hotel guild offering over 200 rooms for patients with minor symptoms or no symptoms, as well as autonomous patients or those who can’t self-isolate at home.
Hotel Salut ensures people are able to self-isolate and takes the strain off hospitals and centres offering intermediate care.