Delegation of Catalan hospitals visits Colombia to present innovation model
<p>Biocat is participating in the event to share its experience driving the health and life sciences cluster in Catalonia</p>
Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Institut Guttman, Parc Taulí and Biocat participated in the I Foro de Salud Competitiva organized by the Bucaramanga Chamber of Commerce (Colombia) in that city on 12 and 13 November. These institutions got the chance to share their innovation model with the Colombian city, which is working to implement a healthcare model of excellence.
Biocat, represented by Head of Entrepreneurship and Business Growth Carlos Lurigados, explained the body’s experience driving the cluster of the BioRegion of Catalonia and presented a wide range of programs and activities organized to dynamize the sector and strengthen its ecosystem. The Bucaramanga Chamber of Commerce also dynamizes the local health arena and is working to implement a cluster model.
The meeting, thus, opened doors for possible collaborations between the regions. The hospitals’ innovation models interested the main healthcare center in the city, which strive to be pioneers in healthcare in Latin America given the potential of Bucaramanga, which has one of the largest middle classes of any Colombian city. The Catalan example could be of help to them.
The trip to Colombia featured one day of conferences with the various institutions and a second day spent visiting three local hospitals: Clínica Chicamocha, which provides healthcare in the city of Bucaramanga; Clínica Foscal Internacional, inaugurated in 2014 by Fundación Foscal; and the Fundación Cardiovascular Hospital Internacional de Colòmbia, which is currently under construction and will be partially inaugurated in early 2016.
This final hospital, when finished, will have a total of 850 beds, 450 consulting rooms, 11 operating rooms and 235,000 m2. Further down the line the facilities will be expanded to include a hotel and rehabilitation center.