The Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital, mainly known as ''Valdecilla,'' is a general hospital located in the city of Santander,

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

, in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

History

The Valdecilla Health House was founded by the end of the first third of the 20th century. Three different stages can be set to understand the history of the hospital: the first one, from its foundation in 1929 to 1969; the second one, until 1982; the third one, until 2000; and from that year to the current time.

Important dates

*Foundation of the Valdecilla Health House, around 1910. *Foundation of the hospital, with the important contribution of the Marquess of Valdecilla (1929). It included a

nursing school Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

, one of the first ones in Spain. *

Military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned or operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a m ...

, since the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

to the 1950s. It involved a decline in the hospital. *Inclusion in the National Health System (1969). By the same time, the Maternity Hospital, the

children's hospital A children's hospital (CH) is a hospital that offers its services exclusively to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults from birth up to until age 18, and through age 21 and older in the United States. In certain special cases, the ...

, the recently built Parayas

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

and a geriatric hospital were added. New blocks were built to the General Hospital. *Creation of the Santander

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

(

University of Cantabria The University of Cantabria (UC) () is a public university located in Santander, Torrelavega and Comillas in Cantabria, Spain. It was founded in 1972 and comprises 15 schools and colleges. It was selected as Campus of International Ex ...

), associated to the hospital. *Second important expansion, by 1982. It was followed by a new decline period. *In 1997 the Hospital Virtual Valdecilla, a healthcare training center, was founded in collaboration with the University of Cantabria and the Government of Cantabria. *In 1999, November 2, the older structures were so damaged that the north-eastern wall of the Trauma building collapsed. Four workers died, and many were injured. This accident resulted in the third important renovation, which is expected to conclude by 2012. By the time, Valdecilla is supposed to become a ''Hospital City'', one of the biggest and best equipped in Spain.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marques de Valdecilla University Hospital Hospitals in Spain Teaching hospitals in Spain Hospitals established in 1929 Buildings and structures in Cantabria University of Cantabria 1929 establishments in Spain