The Health Service has provisionally awarded the construction and demolition projects for the two buildings.

The president of the Government of the Balearic Islands, Francina Armengol, accompanied by the councillor for Health and Consumer Affairs, Patricia Gómez, presented the architectural project for the two buildings for medium and long-stay patients at the Parc Sanitari Nou Son Dureta this Thursday.

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The architectural project for the buildings

These buildings, each with three modules, will house the medium-stay (Area A) and long-stay (Area B) hospitals. The total surface area of the complex is 82,822 m², of which 67,362 m² is for hospital space and 15,460 m² for car parks (with 542 parking spaces). The landscaped areas will occupy 48,793 m².

The project was presented by the Ghesa-Rafael de la Hoz-Maria Nicolau joint venture and achieves architectural and landscape integration. The design integrates environmental and social aspects: there is a predominance of landscaped areas over paved spaces and applies accessibility and ergonomic standards. It also foresees sustainability and energy-saving measures.

During the presentation, the President of the Government, Francina Armengol, stressed that the new Son Dureta is “an investment in the present and the future of this autonomous community” in a space in which “many of us have historical memories, experiences and emotions” and which is now becoming the largest social and healthcare park in Spain.

In this sense, Armengol pointed out that a cutting-edge investment is being made “to humanise the treatment of patients with long-term illnesses, with a green space that will connect the neighbourhood with Bellver Park, with a residence that we are already building and transferring the dependency assessment service here, which means that we are linking necessary services”.

The overall budget is €178.4 million.

For her part, the Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs, Patricia Gómez, stressed that this is a “decisive investment by the Govern which forms part of the 300 million euro Infrastructure Plan and which allows us to fulfil our commitment to the new Son Dureta despite the pandemic”.

Status of the project

The Health Service has provisionally awarded the construction of Building B (which includes three modules) and the demolition of the buildings on the plot where Building A will be located.

Construction will begin on Building B, where the main services will be located (air conditioning, kitchens, water treatment, etc.), which will be shared by the entire health complex.

With regard to Building B, the construction project has been provisionally awarded to the joint venture formed by the companies FCC and Construye Capital, for €61,597,000. The final award is scheduled for early February when a period of fifteen days will be open for appeals. If no appeals are lodged, the contract for the start of construction could be formalised in early March. The planned construction period is 36 months.

Regarding the demolition, a provisional award has been made to the company Melchor Mascaró, for a value of €3,526,000. The definitive award is expected to be made at the beginning of February and the subsequent opening of the fifteen-day period for lodging appeals. If no appeals are lodged, the contract is expected to be formalised and demolition will begin in mid-February. The deadline for completion is fourteen months.

In this way, the construction project for the new Son Dureta socio-sanitary complex continues, which began in May 2022, with the start of work on the nursing home.

Building A: medium-stay hospital

The project foresees the construction of two new buildings and the demolition of the old semicircular building to rebuild it, maintaining the same appearance as the original, from the 1950s. It has a total surface area of 44,192 m².

This new building will be used for patients undergoing treatment, cures and rehabilitation to regain their autonomy and integrate into society. The average stay is expected to be thirty days.

Specifically, it has an inpatient area with 300 beds, an outpatient area with a capacity of 80 patients per day (with spaces for rehabilitation, and outpatient consultations…), and a dementia unit for people with behavioural disorders, with 30 beds. There are also spaces for palliative care teams (ESAD), the Blood Bank and a logistics and services area.

Building B: long-stay hospital

In this area, three new buildings will be constructed, connected on different levels by footbridges. The surface area is 38,630 m². This hospital will be used for more complex patients who need special treatment or cannot stay at home. The average stay will be 2-3 months.

This structure will have an inpatient area with 242 beds, a functional assessment area and an outpatient area. The latter will have a day hospital -with a capacity of 80 patients per day-, functional and cognitive rehabilitation areas, and outpatient consultations.

In addition, Building B will also have a health centre (with an expected 20,000 users) and a primary care emergency service (SUAP) for some 120,000 users.

Attention to chronicity, a strategic objective of the Government of Catalonia

The new Son Dureta project is one of the most ambitious of the autonomous community’s Chronicity Strategy. This project involves recovering an emblematic space in the city of Palma and allocating it for social and healthcare use (until 2010 it was home to our community’s reference hospital). It also aims to become a space for comprehensive quality care for patients with chronic illnesses and their carers.

In addition to the new Son Dureta project, the Government of the Balearic Islands is also carrying out other works dedicated to the care of chronic and dependent people, such as the refurbishment of the Verge del Toro Hospital, the Can na Majora area and the refurbishment of the General Hospital.

Currently, 15.3% of the population is over the age of 65, and by 2029, 22% will be. The older they are, the higher the prevalence of chronic illnesses and the greater the degree of dependency. It is estimated that 68% of hospital admissions in the Balearic Islands are related to chronic diseases. Forty-seven percent of patients with advanced chronic pathologies are currently admitted to acute hospitals and receive care that does not meet their needs.

The Chronicity Strategy defines a model of care that provides more appropriate responses to patients with complex chronic illnesses, that focuses on the needs of individuals and that avoids unnecessary stays in emergency departments, inconvenience to family members, etc.