Old and small for the activity it has, the transfer of the Clínic de Barcelona hospital is an old pending subject. After long deliberations, a year ago its new location was definitively chosen: the upper part of Diagonal, in the space now occupied by the sports facilities of the University of Barcelona (UB). Although part of the services will continue in the current buildings, according to its promoters, the expansion of the medical center will have positive effects beyond the Catalan capital, since the commitment to research in the field of health will be strengthened is taking place in the metropolitan area, specifically in cities such as Hospitalet and Esplugues de Llobregat.
Yesterday, an agreement was signed between administrations that is like a symbolic first stone to make the project a reality. They stamped their rubric Pere Aragonès, president of the Generalitat; Jaume Collboni, mayor of Barcelona; Josep Maria Campistol, director general of the Clínic hospital; Joan Guàrdia, chancellor of the UB; and Lluïsa Moret, president of the Provincial Council of Barcelona. But the document was also signed by the mayor of Hospitalet de Llobregat, Núria Marín; and that of Esplugues de Llobregat, Pilar Díaz. For the first time, these two metropolitan cities, adjacent to the new location of the Clinic, were included in the equation of this process.
Eloquent about the metropolitan importance of the affair were the words that were heard in the Palau de la Generalitat. "This today is much more than an agreement. We are charting the future of Barcelona, the metropolitan area and Catalonia, betting on health and research", said Pere Aragonès. "We will make the Clínic hospital one of the most advanced health campuses in Europe", the president said. The faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy will also be added to the same enclave. It wants to unite healthcare with research and teaching.
According to Jaume Collboni, the project will contribute to a "metropolitan Barcelona without peripheries, but with new centralities". "Without the impulse of the female mayors, it would not be possible", acknowledged the mayor of Barcelona himself. Hospitalet and Esplugues are celebrating the initiative. The move of the Clinic to its borders will give them more metropolitan centrality and they hope that it will help the projects they have been working on for some time to receive a boost.
"It is a health hub that, together with the Health and Innovation Biocluster of L'Hospitalet, will position the metropolitan area of Barcelona as the great pole of reference in biomedicine in southern Europe", considers the mayor of the second city of Catalonia, Núria Marín. They have been working there for some time to forge a space dedicated to this area, of which important institutions such as the Bellvitge hospital and the Catalan Institute of Oncology are already part. They hope that companies related to this area will land thanks to an urban reform that is not exempt from certain criticisms and that currently remains administratively stuck.
Side by side with Hospitalet, Esplugues has been working for some time, with Sant Joan de Déu and the Pediatric Cancer Center, among other organizations in the branch. "The action will enhance the positioning of our medical and biotechnological innovation district in the European framework and will be a driving force for the scientific and economic transformation of the sector of the upper Diagonal, it will generate a pole of growth, attracting talent and resources international scope in the healthcare, university and technological fields", points out the mayor of Esplugues, Pilar Díaz.
Although the objectives and participants in the project are clear, the financing and the schedule of the new Clinic remain an unknown. In an event without questions from the press, no data was offered on these issues yesterday. "Today ends a stage of preparation that allows for an inter-institutional agreement", pointed out the Minister of Health of the Generalitat, Manel Balcells. Some estimates put the project at 1.5 billion euros. At the moment, it is not known who will pay them. In no case will the transfer of the Clinic be carried out in the short term. However, the governance of the project was defined, which will end with the formation of a consortium. Each party undertakes to facilitate development in a manner consistent with its competences.
"We've been dreaming of this day for years, the Clinic has become old and small", explained the general director of the hospital centre, Josep Maria Campistol. "There is still a lot to do, but we have absolute confidence in these traveling companions", concluded the rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia.
