Hotel Alimara Barcelona, temporary home for the health staff working in Hospital Vall d'Hebron
The Hotel Alimara Barcelona, which is part of CETT-UB, has become the home for some members of the health staff of the University Hospital Vall dʼHebron. Both institutions, one next to the other, reached an agreement in late March which stated that the hotel would put its facilities at the service of the hospital staff. The initiative is specially aimed at the staff who live with high-risk family members and therefore should avoid being at their house during the pandemic.
The Hotel Alimara Barcelona, which is part of CETT-UB, has become the home for some members of the health staff of the University Hospital Vall dʼHebron. Both institutions, one next to the other, reached an agreement in late March which stated that the hotel would put its facilities at the service of the hospital staff. The initiative is specially aimed at the staff who live with high-risk family members and therefore should avoid being at their house during the pandemic.
To turn the hotel into a residence, they had to set new protocols (cleaning, cooking and laundry services) and make sure the safety and health measures were properly applied. “All the staff joined a training course on COVID-19. Also, a safety corridor was made in the reception area to keep a distance”, says the dorector of the hotel, Eva Viciano. The rooms have also been adapted, leaving only essential furniture for one guest only, and although the bar and restaurant are closed, the health staff in the hotel have breakfast, lunch and dinner services, which are given in the room in one-use packs. Also, in order to increase security, the elevators have been distributed so there are two of them for guests, another for meal services and two for the cleaning staff (one for the clean laundry and the other for dirty laundry). “We put more cleaning service and distributed the hydroalcoholic solution around different areas of the hotel”, notes Viciano.
Medical staff says it is a luxury to be hosted in the hotel
All the active medical staff staying in the hotel, due to family or transport reasons, values positively the option because it prevents them from putting at risk the health of their families. They also value the comfort and proximity to the hospital, the daily disinfection of the rooms and clothes, and the meal service. The director of the hotel says the elevators are full of support messages, which change daily, and the corridors of each floor have a board with markers so the health staff can share their thoughts too. “Most of the messages say thank you”, says the director of the hotel.
25 years of commitment to society
Also, the Hotel Alimara Barcelona has provided 36 beds and 20 extensions to the sports center Vall dʼHebron. Viciano says this is not the first time the hotel provides its support to society: it did fifteen years ago hosting families from the Carmel neighbourhood after a collapse in the neighbourhood left many people unable to go home. “This gave us experience in the treatment of emergencies and we established the change of needs we need depending on the guests”, says. In this sense, Viciano says the hotel, which belongs to CETT-UB, is permanently committed to society since the very beginning, twenty-five years ago, and in the current situation. “We want to support the community, from professionals to affected people, and be part of the solution to this health crisis”, concludes.