In good health: financing essential hospital services in Galicia

Galicia, in northern Spain, is the country’s fifth most populous region. Its 2.7 million inhabitants amount to 6% of Spain’s population, and 25% are over 65 years old – some way above the national average of 19%.

Existing healthcare challenges

Galicia has fifteen public hospitals and 21 private ones. Pontevedra, the region’s sixth largest city, has 82,671 inhabitants. It’s the fastest growing city, gaining over 1,000 new residents each year. Pontevedra has two public hospitals: Provincial, and the University Hospital of Montecelo. These services support the city’s population as well as that of 26 surrounding municipalities, amounting to some 300,000 people.

In the city of Ferrol the three public hospitals, Naval, Arquitecto Marcide and Novoa Santos (known as Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Ferrol (CHUF)) provide health care to the city’s population and people in 19 nearby municipalities.

The public hospitals in both cities date from the 1960s and 1980s and aren’t fit for purpose. They lack reliable infrastructure and technology to support twenty-first century healthcare. In Ferrol the onco-haematology services are no match for the growing number of cancer patients seeking treatment, and cancer patients in Pontevedra must drive 60km to Santiago to be treated.

A change is necessary to provide these populations with infrastructure and technology in line with the medical care that is demanded in the 21st century. In Ferrol and Pontevedra, onco-haematology services will be created that will avoid the displacement of a considerable number of patients to the reference hospital centers at Coruña and Santiago de Compostela.

Finding a solution

In 2020, the Galician Healthcare Service (SERGAS) presented its 2020 strategy which provided a roadmap for the next five years. This included more than 130 sub-projects and 20 strategic lines. One of these strategic lines was to improve adequate medical facilities and equipment to address the needs of users and medical staff, with sub-projects including the construction/rehabilitation of hospitals and health centres throughout Galicia.

Support from the CEB

The CEB is providing a project loan of €85 million to Xunta de Galicia to partially finance its 2020 strategy.

The funding is intended for the expansion of the Arquitecto Marcide hospital and the remodeling of the Naval hospital (both in Ferrol), as well as the expansion of the Montecelo University Hospital (in Pontevedra) with a newly incorporated hospital. This funding will also support the acquisition of medical equipment, including laboratory, pharmacy and surgical equipment.

In addition, the loan will fund an increase in the number of beds and enable hospitals to provide new, much-needed services, including nuclear medicine (a specialist radiology treatment) and paediatric intensive care.

The project will have a minimum cost of €222 million and will have more than 500,000 direct beneficiaries residing in Ferrol, Pontevedra and their areas of influence.

This project contributes to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 ‘Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’ and SDG 10 ‘Reduce inequality within and among countries’.

David Cabañó, General Director of Financial Policy, Treasury and European Funds at the Xunta de Galicia, says, “The Xunta de Galicia maintains a total commitment to public health, as reflected in the regional budget, which allocates more than €4,500 million for this purpose, with an investment of €350 million. This will allow, among other actions, an important boost to the Hospitals of Ourense and Ferrol. 

We must thank the CEB for its determined support for these health infrastructures, which will undoubtedly improve the quality of life of our citizens.”

Proven success

The current loan will be the CEB’s third direct project supporting Galicia. In March 2021, the Bank approved a €50 million COVID-19 loan.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for strong health systems,” says Maria Siguenza, Country Manager for Spain.  

“The CEB loan will support Galicia to strengthten its health services and provide access to quality health-care services to its citizens.”

The CEB has experience of financing healthcare projects in other Spanish regions. In 2016 the Bank approved a €160 million public sector finance facility with the Region Castilla Leon which partially financed the renovation and construction of new hospitals and medical centres across the region.

The Bank has also approved loans to support hospital projects in other member states:

• In September 2020 it approved a project loan to part-finance the construction of two new medical buildings and expand the research campus at Hamburg’s UKE hospital.
• In July 2020 the CEB approved a project loan to Ente Ospedaliero Ospedali Galliera to build a new hospital in Liguria, Italy.
• The Bank has also part-financed the construction of a new hospital at Rijeka, in Croatia.