We are very glad to feature our Extremadura Health Ecosystem as our Ecosystem of the Month of August. Andy Bleaden, our Communities Manager, says: “Our ECHAlliance ecosystem in Extremadura in Spain is one of those interesting examples of one of our newer Spanish Ecosystem that have a wide stakeholder base and also keen interest in getting involved with projects. They have strong involvement from both the Health Care Service and Social care system which is reflected in their excellence in their work on Active Ageing.Always a reliable project partner with a great track record of scale up with pilots – adopting innovation at scale.”
What is the approximate stakeholder breakdown of your ecosystem?
The Extremadura Health Ecosystem was created to promote research and innovation in the public health and care system in Extremadura. The key objectives are fostering public-private collaboration as well as increasing the internationalization of the health and care system.
The stakeholder ecosystem is as follow:
- FundeSalud (the research foundation part of the Regional Ministry of Health and Social Services at the Government of Extremadura that manages both research and training programs at the Regional Health (SES) and Care (SEPAD) system)
- SES (Extremadura’s Healthcare Service)
- SEPAD (Extremadura’s Social care System)
- JUMISC (Jesus Usón Minimally Invasive Surgery Centre)
- CENITS (Technological Innovation and Research Center)
- Health Cluster of Extremadura
The Extremadura Health Ecosystem is coordinated by FundeSalud, the research foundation part of the Regional Ministry of Health and Social Services at the Government of Extremadura that manages both research and training programs at the Regional Health (SES) and Care (SEPAD) system.
Extremadura’s Healthcare Service (SES) is the Healthcare System in Extremadura that involves 14 hospitals with around 3,000 beds, 113 Community Health Centers, 420 Primary care centers and over 18,000 professionals. SES is managed by a powerful Healthcare Information System (JARA) that provides 100% electronic prescription and an integrated medical record (primary and specialized care).
Extremadura’s Social Care System (SEPAD) provides more than 10,000 elder people with Government-dependent Nursing Homes. SEPAD supports and manages Nursing Homes, Day Care Centers, Senior Centers and other aged-friendly resources. SEPAD also collaborates with private institutions in order to guarantee a correct care for aged people. SEPAD assists also the elders by providing domiciliary services and other assistance to promote autonomous living and healthy lifestyle for senior people. It also manages different programs in tele-care and health.
Other members in the Extremadura Health Ecosystem are Jesus Usón Minimally Invasive Surgery Centre (JUMISC), Extremadura Supercomputing, Technological Innovation and Research Center (CENITS) and Health Cluster of Extremadura.
Who are the top 3 champions from your Ecosystem?
- FundeSalud
- CCMIJU
- SEPAD
What EU funding/collaboration are you involved with, or you would like to be part of?
Our ecosystem partners are involved in a number of collaborations/projects funded by different EU programs from H2020 and Interreg.
- ESSENCE (H2020)
- dRural (H2020)
- CRANE (H2020)
- InnHospital (Interreg)
- BioimpACE (Interreg)
- Hospital Sudoe 4.0 (Interreg)
- EuroAGE (Interreg)
You can find out more about the projects we are involved in here.
What are the key priorities and themes for your ecosystem?
Due to the characteristics of the population in our region, where individuals living with a disability or chronic disease are less likely to have access to high-quality health services and programs compared to those in urban area, the Extremadura Health Ecosystem focuses mostly on Active and Healthy Aging in rural areas as well as chronic diseases.
Nevertheless, innovation in hospitals and 3D bioprinting are also areas of interest for the Extremadura Health Ecosystem.
What is your primary strength as an ecosystem?
Our previous experience in innovation in Active and Healthy Ageing have allowed us to implement small pilot experiences. For instance, H2020 MoveCare project implementations included only 4 experimental care providers to be available in different sites of the region. This work was continued in the project H2020 ESSENCE where the number of pilots sites was increased due to the reduction of the cost of each home integrated in this innovative service. We are now developing this advanced pilot care system for 60 locations and in the future, we will scale up to more locations according to the demand.
Who are your clinical champions – hospitals, clinicians, specialties?
The clinical champions in Extremadura are:
- The Perpetuo Socorro Hospital in Badajoz, the pilot site for the Hospital SUDOE 4.0 project, where many improvements in energy efficiency were implemented.
- Research and Innovation Commission at SES, which has been recently launched to coordinate research programs and innovative initiatives at the public Healthcare system in Extremadura.
- Dr. Adrian Llerena, Director of Proyecto MEDEA, a project that will implement personalized medicine in the healthcare systems.
