7 March 2018 – El Confidencial
The Community of Madrid is going to carry out a comprehensive remodelling project of Hospital La Paz. Construction work will begin in 2019 and will involve the expansion of the hospital’s existing surface area by 25% or 50,000 m2, with four new buildings and a hotel for patients’ families. The construction work is going to be performed in four phases and will begin next year, according to the President of the Community of Madrid, Cristina Cifuentes, with the aim of ensuring that La Paz “continues to be the best hospital in Spain and one of the best in the world”. The forecast investment will amount to €359 million and will be paid for by the Community.
The size of the reference hospital in Madrid will thereby be increased from 190,842 m2 to 238,198 m2 following the remodelling project, of which 205,538 m2 will be newly built and another 32,660 m2 will be reformed. New green space spanning 10,250 m2 is also going to be created and new roads will be built. (…). The first phase of work is due to be awarded to the contractor(s) in January 2019. (…). La Paz will not reduce is patient activity at any point during the construction period.
The first phase will begin following the award of the construction work in January and will involve the demolition of the North Building, the Teaching building, generators, the parking lot and the Human Resources department (29,508 m2) to build the new General Hospital and a parking lot for employees (109,967 m2), which will be operational from 2022.
The second phase involves the demolition of the General Hospital (68,680 m2) to make space for ambulatory services, day hospitals, rehabilitation and dialysis services (59,428 m2), which will be completed in 2025.
For the third phase, the General Emergency area and the Traumatology Hospital will be demolished (21,884 m2) and the new Maternity-Children’s Hospital buildings will be constructed with an area for ancillary services (38,278 m2), which will be operational from 2027.
In the fourth and final phase, part of the former Maternity-Children’s Hospital will be demolished and other spaces, such as the Maternity Tower (24,267 m2) and a service area, will be reformed. That final phase will be completed in 2029 (…).
According to the regional Government, the new hospital will provide patients and families with “more comfort, privacy and security, with more individual rooms, larger waiting rooms and the creation of recreational spaces, amongst other benefits” (…).
The Investment Plan for Hospital Infrastructures in the Public Network of the Community of Madrid is going to allocate most of its €1 billion budget to reforming the seven largest hospitals in the region: 12 de Octubre, La Paz, Gregorio Marañón, Ramón y Cajal, Clínico San Carlos, La Princesa and Niño Jesús; on which more than €700 million will be spent.
The plan also includes forecast investment of €250 million to renovate another 14 hospitals: Móstoles, Príncipe de Asturias, Severo Ochoa, Getafe, Fuenlabrada, Alcorcón, Virgen de La Poveda, Virgen de la Fuenfría, Guadarrama, El Escorial, Hospital Central de la Cruz Roja, Santa Cristina, José Germain and Rodríguez Lafora. Moreover, it plans to invest approximately €42 million to convert the former Hospital Puerta de Hierro into a new and modern hospital centre for the care and functional recovery of patients.
Original story: El Confidencial (by I. G.)
Translation: Carmel Drake