Developed by the Catalan Ministry of Health in partnership with Fira de Barcelona
The temporary hospital in Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue, available to the health system
The Fira Salut Hospital is now available to the health system in the event that it requires additional beds to alleviate the effects of the current pandemic. This facility, located in Hall 4 of Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue, has an initial capacity for 300 patients which could be quickly expanded to 700 more. Having this resource would enable to face a possible upsurge in Covid-19 cases and would help the region’s hospitals to plan their usual care provision activity.
The temporary hospital is already prepared to receive patients with coronavirus who have overcome the acute phase of the disease, who are stable and have a favourable prognosis from health centres in the Southern Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. The operational management of this hospital, whose aim is to be able to help to relieve the health system if necessary, will be the responsibility of the Bellvitge University Hospital, which will take on the medical direction and the management of the human and material resources of the centre.
The Catalan Health Service and Fira de Barcelona have worked to make the new hospital’s facilities comfortable and safe for patients and healthcare professionals. With wide spaces for care personnel, separation between beds to preserve patient privacy, centralised medical control systems and equipment, radiology and analytical services, as well as bathroom facilities.
Web portal and app for health personnel
As well as collaborating in the preparation and build-up of the facility, Fira de Barcelona also provides coverage for basic services such as logistics, surveillance and catering for healthcare personnel.
Fira has also designed a web portal and an app with information to facilitate the work of the care staff at the centre. This platform has a geolocation functionality to help the healthcare personnel to find their way around the premises and find their access point or the car park. In this way, they will be able to see the assigned routes, resources and points of interest such as the changing rooms, staff rooms and training rooms, the dining room and offices, and the exact location of the patient modules.
The Managing Director of Fira de Barcelona, Constantí Serrallonga, said that “in the face of the serious health crisis, we are assuming our commitment to the region and to the people more than ever before; this is why we are making our facilities and knowledge available to institutions and society as a whole with the aim of helping, to the best of our ability, to alleviate this pandemic.” He also expresses his “gratitude to all the entities, companies, suppliers and the Fira staff, for their collaboration in the current emergency situation.”
Institutions, organisations and companies
More than 300 professionals are participating in the build-up of the hospital, and some fifteen entities and institutions have also collaborated, including Fira de Barcelona, Doctors without Borders, Barcelona City Council with the Fire Brigade and the Local Police Force, as well as the City Council of L’Hospitalet and its Police Force, Barcelona Provincial Council, the Catalan Government’s Mossos d’Esquadra Police Force, the Catalan Government’s Fire Brigade and members of the army. Likewise, different companies from various sectors have made donations and provided materials to set up the hospital.
This temporary hospital complements other initiatives involving Fira de Barcelona: the assignment of Hall 7 (Victoria Eugenia) of the Montjuïc venue, which has been fitted out as an accommodation centre with 450 places for people in vulnerable situations, the donation of two tonnes of food to soup kitchens, which have been distributed by the Nutrició sense Fronteres (NGO), and the preparation of 17,000 meals in the central kitchen of the Gran Via venue for hospitals and nursing homes.