The Camp de Tarragona hospital system is getting up to date
The new Joan XXIII Hospital is now in its second phase, the El Vendrell Hospital is being expanded, and the Pius de Valls Hospital will be relocated to a health park.
TarragonaThe Camp de Tarragona region continues to grow and has an increasingly aging population requiring greater healthcare. The hospital system is adapting to these changes, expanding existing facilities and planning new infrastructure. The most notable is the new Joan XXIII Hospital in Tarragona, which represents a total investment of €250 million. There is also a new Pío Hospital in Valls and more beds in Santa Tecla and El Vendrell. And last week, a new private hospital, Viamed Tarragona, was inaugurated.
The new Juan XXIII Hospital
The major investment in the healthcare sector in the coming years in Camp de Tarragona is undoubtedly the new Joan XXIII Hospital. Opened in Tarragona in 1967, the facilities have been outdated and aged for years. Construction has been underway for two years now and involves the construction of almost 80,000 square meters of buildings, including the healthcare, clinical support, administrative support, and general services areas, in addition to the development areas.
In the first phase of the project, due to be completed in the summer of 2024, preliminary work has been carried out prior to the construction of the new building, such as the relocation of services and the modifications to other buildings; roads and emergency ambulance parking, and temporary accesses. The second phase, which began last January and is expected to last forty months, includes the construction of the new building, which will have an inpatient area for 252 patients, a surgical block with 14 operating rooms, 70% of the day hospital with 58 points of care, nuclear medicine with 20 radiodiagnostic rooms, and a helipad. During the third phase, the teaching building will be built.
Santa Tecla Hospital will expand along the eastern side.
The historic Hospital de Sant Pau i Santa Tecla, located on the central Rambla Vella, in the heart of the capital of Tarragona, and with an extension with intermediate care beds, outpatient clinics, and CMA operating rooms in the Santa Tecla Levante complex, in the Arrabassada Valley, currently has 180 beds.
The short-term objective of the Santa Tecla Network is to expand its hospital capacity by taking advantage of the imminent relocation of the Santa Tecla Levante residence to the new Capuchinos building on Rambla Nova. The relocation, scheduled for early 2026, will free up significant space in the Santa Tecla Levante complex, which will gain 60 inpatient beds. Once the project is completed, the Tarragona hospital will have a total of more than 240 beds between the facilities on Rambla Vella and the Arrabassada Valley.
The Sant Joan de Reus opened its new building in 2010.
The Sant Joan de Reus University Hospital, founded more than 800 years ago and currently serving as a general hospital for the Baix Camp and Priorat regions, opened its new facilities in 2010. It is a reference center for the entire Tarragona region in medical and radiation oncology, surgery for severe obesity, and other surgical procedures. In its decade and a half of operation, the Reus hospital has considerably improved its current status, as demonstrated by the increase in surgical procedures from 6,475 in 2010 to 10,371 in 2024, or from 233,756 visits to 428,337 in the same period.
Since June 2021, the hospital has been part of the Public Law Entity (EDP) Salud Sant Joan Reus - Baix Camp. Along with the hospital, other healthcare facilities in the Baix Camp region are also part of Salud Sant Joan Reus - Baix Camp, which employ a total of 2,000 professionals every day.
El Vendrell Hospital will expand by 13,000 m².
Last week, the Government authorized the Department of Health to grant a direct subsidy of €45 million to the San Pablo and Santa Tecla Hospital Foundation in Tarragona, through the signing of an agreement, to finance the expansion and renovation of El Vendrell Hospital. The objective is to promote the improvement of an infrastructure located in Camp de Tarragona, which is part of the public health system of the Penedès Health Region, to guarantee quality healthcare in the region and respond to population growth and the increased demand for healthcare services.
The expansion and renovation project has a completion date of 2030 and continues the work begun at the end of 2024. The expansion structure is expected to begin after the earthworks and to maintain healthcare activity during the works, with occasional reorganizations of the circuits. The expansion increases the center's surface area by 13,000 m² to strengthen the areas with the greatest healthcare impact: outpatient clinics; inpatient care, day hospital, diagnostic imaging and pharmacy; emergency room; surgical area; and outdoor development. The initial phase includes the addition of 40 inpatient beds and 36 intermediate care beds.
A new healthcare park for the Alt Camp and Conca de Barberà regions
The Alt Camp and Conca de Barberà regions have the Pius Hospital, located in Valls, as their reference hospital. The facility, inaugurated in 1991, has become too small and obsolete, and the Valls City Council and the Generalitat's Department of Health are working to build a healthcare park in the coming years. This park will integrate the Valls Pius Hospital, the intermediate care center (social health center), and the primary care center over 47,000 m². The plan is to build it on land at the southeast entrance to Valls, next to the entrance through the Passeig de l'Estació area.
What remains to be defined is the formula for the future management of the Pius Hospital, which is being worked on by a bilateral committee between both administrations. It should be noted that in March 2021, the city council signed a memorandum of understanding with the Generalitat (Catalan Government) to incorporate the Pius Hospital into CatSalut. "We want it to work well. We'll do everything necessary. We'll find a format that guarantees the hospital's viability and investment," said Health Minister Olga Pané on May 9 during a visit to Valls.
Viamed Tarragona, a private hospital with the latest technology
Since last August, Viamed Tarragona Hospital has been opening its doors in one of the city's new expansion zones, around the Mediterranean Ring Road. The facilities were officially opened on October 16th as "a benchmark in innovation, specialized care, and highly complex services."
Gone are the outdated facilities of the former Monegal Clinic on López Peláez Street, which later became the property of Viamed Salut, a hospital group with a large network of centers throughout Spain, comprising nine hospitals located in Andalusia, Aragon, Catalonia, and La Rioja. The new hospital complex includes 96 single rooms, 11 operating rooms, an intensive care unit, and a 24-hour emergency department with separate circuits for adults and pediatrics. It also has 50 outpatient clinics and a comprehensive diagnostic imaging service equipped with state-of-the-art technology.