Military hospital being re-built to fight COVID-19 this winter in Spain’s Andalucia as part of €117 million battle plan

A RUNDOWN military hospital is being brought back to life in Sevilla in preparation for a potential COVID-19 resurgence this winter.

The Vigil de Quiñones Military Hospital will be operational within a few months some 15 years after it was closed and left to rot.

The site, which will be attached to the Virgen del Rocio hospital, is currently plagued by vandalism, years of dirt build up and deterioration.

But the Junta has vowed to have it up and running by the end of January as part of a €117 million plan to relieve the pressure of coronavirus on hospitals across the region.

The hospital in Sevilla will be spread over six floors and provide 150 beds and a further 27 intensive care beds.

“If we have a coronavirus rebound in the winter, Andalucia will have the necessary infrastructure to face it,” Junta president Juanma Moreno said during a visit to the site this week.

He added: “We are concerned about and focused on the fight against COVID-19… We have a lot of leeway in terms of hospital beds and ICU beds if the pandemic becomes more intense.”

A total of 672 healthcare upgrades are being undertaken or planned across Andalucia in preparation for the winter season.

“They are all essential to meet the needs and to face the challenges of this terrible pandemic,” said Moreno.

From the €117 million set aside for hospital improvements, Sevilla will receive €30.7 million, which, including the military hospital, will also pay for improvements to the operating rooms and emergency services at the Children’s Hospital, the expansion of the ER at the Virgen del Rocio hospital and improvements at the Macarena and Valme health centres.

Elsewhere in Andalucia, the ICU at Malaga Regional hospital is set to be expanded, as is the microbiology and hematology lab at the university hospital in Jaen.

The second floor of the Infanta Elena hospital in Huelva will also be improved to cope with COVID-19, as will the Hospital de Poniente in Almeria and the ICU and operating theatre at the Hospital del Valle de los Pedroches in Cordoba.