It will be the first cross-border in-patient hospital in the European Union (EU)

The Catalan and French Authorities signed an agreement and the memorandum of association of the European Territorial Cooperation Group (ETCG)

The center will provide service for nearly 30,000 citizens of the French and Catalan Cerdanya, beyond borders

The Hospital of Cerdanya is expected to open to patients during 2012

The president of the Government of Catalonia, José Montilla, together with the Catalan Minister for Health, Marina Geli, the Spanish Minister for Health and Social Policy, Trinidad Jiménez, her French counterpart, Roselyne Bachelot, the Mayor of Puigcerdà, John Martino, and the European Commission representative in Spain, Francisco Fonseca Morillo, have visited the building works of the Hospital of Cerdanya in Puigcerdà.

During the visit, the Authorities signed the Agreement and Memorandum of Association of the European Territorial Cooperation Group (ETCG). This Agreement will enable European States and Regions to sign agreements, and now it has allowed the building of the first cross-border in-patient hospital in Europe.

This hospital will have more than 19,000 square meters and a capacity of 71 beds, providing service for nearly 30,000 citizens of the French and Catalan Cerdanya, and Capcir. Total budget is nearly M€38.5, 31 of which are assigned to works and 7.5 to facilities. It has been awarded with an ERDF grant of M€18.6 by the EU. The rest of the funding will be given by the Government of Catalonia (60%) and the French Government (40%).

The Hospital of Cerdanya is expected to open to patients during 2012. On 23 February 2009 works began through a temporary business associations (UTE) composed by Copisa, Constructora Pirenaica Ltd., and Agefred SA.

A Pioneer Project

The Hospital of Cerdanya is an innovative Project that aims to optimize existing resources of Catalonia and France to improve health care of people living in French and Catalan Cerdanya, and Capcir.

The building of the new hospital is a major step forward for the development of this community health project, which is pioneer in the EU and will help develop a new concept of health, beyond borders. With the new hospital, French citizens will have an out-reach in-patient resource, and Catalan population will benefit from a better quality of health care services.

The center will be staffed by French and Catalan professional working teams. In fact, training protocols for staff are already being prepared. This staff is expected to be fluent in Catalan, Spanish and French.

The new hospital is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and by the Governments of Catalonia and France. At the same time, it can be a reference model for future cross-border projects.


Equipment and services

The Hospital of Cerdanya will have more than 19,000 square meters (current Hospital of Puigcerdà has 5,500 square meters) and a capacity of 71 beds, 56 of which will be for conventional admission, 10 for day hospital and major outpatient surgery, and 5 for observation.

To assure and improve health care, facilities of the current hospital will be increased: there will be four operating rooms, instead of two; emergency boxes will increase from five to twelve, doubling care capacity in the delivery rooms. It is envisaged that the new hospital will host 200 workers, including clinical professionals, nurses, auxiliary staff, technical staff and others.

Currently, the hospital of the comarca capital provides care for nearly 17,000 patients a year and it is expected that, with the new hospital, numbers will double. In fact, with the new facilities, care capacity will cover 30,000 citizens living in Catalan and French Cerdanya, and Capcir. These comarques, with an extension of 1,340 square kilometers, include 53 municipalities, which are located in areas of hard weather and mountainous terrain, which complicates communications.

The creation of the new Hospital of Cerdanya

Its eight years now since the idea of creating a new health center began to take shape, when the local and municipal Authorities and health centers managers of Cerdanya realized that the neighbours of Catalunya Nord had Hospital of Puigcerdà as a reference point for certain medical care services, and also the Maternity in Prades closed its doors.

In 2003, under the EU’s INTERREG III Project, a viability study that encompasses the need to build a basic general hospital, located in Puigcerdà, is submitted. During 2005 architectural project is implemented; next year, joint assistance project (point de non-retour) is prepared, and Hospital of Cerdanya Private Foundation is built, as an operational and transitional tool to monitor and promote the project.

The EU establishes the legal framework which enables the building of the new hospital and, in July 2006, authorizes the creation of the European Territorial Cooperation Group (ETCG). The creation of this body allows reaching agreements between the European States and Regions, beyond the Treaty of Bayonne, which only enabled reaching agreements between States.

In the case of the Hospital of Cerdanya, the French State and the Government of Catalonia have full health care competences, and competence transfers are clearly settled by the Spanish State.

A year later, in July 2007, the French Ministry of Health and the Catalan Ministry of Health agree to frame the Hospital of Cerdanya project within the constitution of ETCG. In October Ministers Bachelot and Geli reach financial commitments to build the new center. At the end of 2007 the Town Hall of Puigcerdà gives terrains, and in August 2008, the Government of Catalonia adopts the budget to build the new hospital.