Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge (HUB)
Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge (HUB) opened its doors in 1972 in Hospitalet de Llobregat. Together with Hospital de Viladecans and the Costa de Ponent primary health care centres, the hospital is part of the southern Metropolitan management area of the Catalan Health Institute (ICS). It is one of the 5 hospitals in Catalonia accredited as a third level hospital: offering the highest level of care. It covers all the medical specialities except paediatrics and obstetrics. It is a leading centre for transplants, imaging, heart surgery, digestive and thoracic surgery, neurosurgery, ophthalmology and psychiatry. It is the community referral hospital for 343,172 members of the population of Hospitalet de Llobregat and El Prat de Llobregat. In addition, it is a leading centre for processes involving the latest technology for over 2 million inhabitants of the following districts: South Barcelona Metropolitan Area, Camp de Tarragona and Terres de l'Ebre. For over 25 years, the Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge has been a university teaching centre linked to the University of Barcelona, where it offers courses in medicine, nursing, dentistry and podiatry. The hospital is a leading international research centre and forms part of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), one of the only centres accredited with the highest level of research granted by the Carlos III Health Institute at the Ministry of Science and Innovation. The infrastructural resources available are: 31 operating rooms 204 outpatient clinics (including doctors surgeries) 1 clinical laboratory 52 pieces of high-tech equipment, including those managed by the Diagnostic Image Institute (IDI) and the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) 742 beds and 1 international health unit.