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Madrid's new pandemic hospital, also known as Isabel Zendal, has been built in the residential area of Valdebebas. Only 4 months after the foundation stone was laid, the hospital is scheduled to open on October 31, as confirmed by the Madrid Ministry of Health.
It is named in honor of Isabel Zendal Gómez, considered by the WHO as the first woman nurse in history on a humanitarian and international mission, who helped eradicate smallpox in the "Balmis Expedition", which lasted from 1803 to 1806.
The objective of its inauguration, according to the Regional Government, is "to continue strengthening the Madrid healthcare system with a new public center against possible outbreaks of the Covid-19 coronavirus or other diseases ". In addition, it will be a reference center for research, training and development of new therapeutic solutions for COVID-19 and future pandemics. In this way, the Hospital de Emergencias de la Comunidad de Madrid will serve to avoid congesting the rest of Madrid's hospitals.
The new Pandemic Hospital, which has already been presented as a continuation of Ifema's "success", has involved an investment of approximately 50 million euros. The hospital will be multipurpose, based on a system of modular pavilions, to enable only the necessary part and thus be able to adapt to any functional plan.
The total area of the hospital will exceed 45,000 square meters. They will be distributed in three pavilions of 7,400 meters each, the logistics center/central warehouse of the SERMAS of 7,900 meters, an administrative area of 5,700 meters, a central facilities area of 1,250 meters and a pedestrian avenue of 2,745 square meters. It is worth mentioning that the Isabel Zendal hospital will also function as the central warehouse of the Madrid Health Service for medical supplies.
It will be equipped with 1008 beds, divided into 20 hospitalization units of 48 beds each, and will have a total of 48 ICU and Intermediate Care units. It will also have diagnostic imaging areas (conventional and portable X-ray rooms, a CAT scanner, etc.) and a laboratory.
It will have treatment rooms for less complex interventions, which may be set up as operating rooms or CMA (major ambulatory surgery) areas if necessary.
It will have a state-of-the-art system to monitor users through IoT technology, which will serve to ensure proper circulation between patients and professionals through the differentiated 'clean' and 'dirty' circuits.
The Community awarded the hospital project to 14 companies. Those chosen are, among others, four architectural firms with experience in hospitals and large construction companies such as Sacyr Infraestructuras S.A, Constructora San José S.A, Dragados S.A and Ferrovial Servicios S.A.
Impernor Asbitra has been selected by the four construction companies responsible for its construction, to carry out the waterproofing units of the work, due to the extensive experience of its hospital division, having developed more than 20 hospitals throughout the country in recent years.
The president of the Community of Madrid and leader of the regional government, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, indicates that the process is being "six times faster than works of similar dimensions".
This is thanks to the "fast-track" model in which the project design and execution of the work are carried out in an overlapping manner, considerably reducing the total execution time.
The construction technique used consists of manufacturing the structural components (modules) in factories and then transporting them in vehicles to the location to erect the building.
It is an increasingly popular form of construction, the same one used in China to build the Wuhan hospital. Another reason why the Madrid hospital will open so soon is its simplicity. In Spain, general hospitals are the norm rather than this type of single-themed center.
It is a large-scale project and at the same time necessary due to the current situation in Spain caused by Covid-19. It has been decided to build a versatile, multipurpose and sectorizable hospital with a vision for the future. An infrastructure that adapts to any type of contingency or increase in healthcare demand.
One advantage of prefabricated buildings is that they can be easily transformed. This could help to give Isabel Zendal a new use in the future postcovid-19.
