Introduction to San Joan de Déu Barcelona Children’s Hospital
San Joan de Déu Barcelona Children’s Hospital (SJD), a renowned international pediatric care center, has presented its advanced specialization model in Mexico. The hospital aims to establish partnerships and create a direct impact on the national healthcare system. SJD’s directors are visiting Mexico to explore collaborations, focusing on their unique blend of clinical trials, advanced therapies, and a humanistic approach centered around families.
Advanced Research and Therapies
SJD is a world-class university hospital specializing in maternal-child health. Dr. Joan Comella, Director of Research, Innovation, and Learning, highlighted the hospital’s intense scientific activity, placing it among the top 10-15 hospitals globally for scientific production. The hospital addresses unmet medical needs in childhood cancer and rare diseases.
SJD excels in translational medicine and clinical trials, integrating research and clinical practice to accelerate knowledge advancement. It is the only center in Spain with a unit for phase I clinical trials in children and adolescents. SJD leads advanced therapies like CAR-T, achieving 90% response rates in late-stage oncology patients with limited treatment options.
Collaboration is key, as SJD participates in European Reference Networks (ERNs), being accredited in 21 of 24 rare disease nodes. This network facilitates knowledge sharing and managing complex, rare conditions with globally dispersed experts.
Diversified Funding: The Driving Force of Research
Dr. Comella explained that cutting-edge research for rare pediatric diseases relies on three pillars of diversified funding: public funding from regional, Spanish, and European governments; private industrial funding to deliver experimental drugs to patients; and philanthropy and civil society. Philanthropic contributions are crucial, often financing 30% or more of research activities. For instance, the Pediatric Cancer Center and Precision Medicine Building were entirely funded by philanthropy.
Balancing Excellence and Humanism
SJD emphasizes the balance between excellence and humanism, exemplified by its Hospital Amic (Friendly Hospital) model. Patient satisfaction scores, as measured by the Net Promoter Score (NPS), are exceptionally high (76.4 globally, 86 during hospitalization on a 100-point scale).
Real-time monitoring and data through the Clinical Command Center (Cortex) ensure quality and safety standards for patients at home via telemedicine and home care equipment. This real-time monitoring reduces hospitalization needs and resource consumption.
Humanism in the operating room is also a priority, as demonstrated by Dr. Patricia Montealegre Delgado’s program allowing parents to accompany children into the operating room, supported by clowns and without needles, helping children “forget” the surgical process and transforming a traumatic experience into a positive one.
The Mexican Experience
Dr. Alma Edith Benito Reséndiz, a pediatric neuro-oncologist at Mexico’s ISSSTE, shared her experience collaborating with SJD in 2022 through a virtual neuro-oncology program for low- and middle-income countries due to the shortage of specialists.
Her mentorship relationship with Dr. Andrés Morales, SJD’s neuro-oncology unit leader, created a virtuous synergy resulting in a national impact project in Mexico: the ISSSTE National Strategy, ensuring children are institutionally referred to centers providing comprehensive, multidisciplinary oncology treatment from surgery, optimizing times and treatment quality while preventing care fragmentation.
Dr. Benito Resendiz has completed stays at SJD and participates in international virtual Tumor Boards with experts from Barcelona, Brazil, Argentina, and Costa Rica, offering dual expert opinions on complex cases and maintaining constant connections with global leaders.
She also mentioned that SJD’s clinical trials are open to the Latin American population, providing an “generous” opportunity for patients without access to these therapies in their home countries.
An Expanding Model
SJD officials stated they currently address treatment requests from over 140 countries, supported by an international, multicultural team facilitating the process (visas, accommodation, follow-up, translation).
In addition to individual training, SJD has framework agreements for collaboration, academic, and training partnerships with institutions like UNAM, UDEM, and TEC de Monterrey, as well as hospitals such as the Mexico City Children’s Hospital, Federico Gómez.
SJD also supports the free TELEO platform, accessible to pediatric oncologists across Ibero-America, enabling case presentations and professional development.
Finally, SJD confirmed it will meet with Mexico’s health administration, IMSS-Bienestar, to explore institutional collaboration opportunities in shared research and clinical trial participation.
Key Questions and Answers
- What is San Joan de Déu Barcelona Children’s Hospital? It’s a renowned international pediatric care center presenting an advanced specialization model in Mexico, focusing on clinical trials, advanced therapies, and a humanistic approach.
- What makes SJD’s research unique? SJD’s research is supported by diversified funding, including public, private, and philanthropic sources, with a strong emphasis on translational medicine and clinical trials.
- How does SJD balance excellence and humanism? SJD emphasizes a friendly hospital model, real-time patient monitoring, and humanistic approaches in surgery, ensuring high patient satisfaction.
- What is the Mexican experience with SJD? Mexican doctors have collaborated with SJD through virtual programs, leading to national impact projects optimizing pediatric oncology care.
- How is SJD’s model expanding? SJD addresses treatment requests from over 140 countries, fostering partnerships through framework agreements and supporting platforms like TELEO.
