Madrid and Barcelona Hospitals Explore Modern Security for Digitized Health Spaces
Security and communications leaders from 12 de Octubre and Gregorio Marañón in Madrid, along with teams from Sanitas and Bellvitge University Hospital in Barcelona, gathered at Hikvision Village this week. Their aim was to address the security challenges facing hospitals as critical infrastructure in a digitized healthcare landscape and to highlight the value of robust security in increasingly connected environments.
The discussion centered on a path to fully digitize complex health facilities. The participants stressed the need to operate as if security were invisible, supporting both physical safety and technological resilience. They also emphasized professionalizing the roles within the industry and the importance of sharing problems and solutions across public and private health security stakeholders.
Safer healthcare centers can leverage the vast quantities of data generated daily. This data-driven evolution must deliver effective safety that aligns with other operational aspects, such as the rhythm of light and quiet hours, the usage of spaces and clinics, and the patient flow. The process may involve data migration from external sources like police databases to enhance patient protection.
Santiago García from Gregorio Marañón Hospital stated that competence is essential to harness technology and build an AI‑driven data repository for precise decision making. He also highlighted the rising prominence of the security manager role, a position that has gained importance as hospital operations grow more technical. This transformation supports the need to interpret large volumes of activity and extract meaningful insights from data.
Experts underscored the urgent requirement to cross-reference and analyze data across different domains. The goal is to uncover patterns of behavior that improve decision making while controlling technology deployment costs. This approach helps hospitals avoid a complete overhaul of their existing infrastructure and supports budgetary stability. The integration of systems capable of supporting aging equipment alongside artificial intelligence demands involvement from a qualified security professional from project conception to implementation, ensuring a smooth maintenance path for the facility. The emphasis is on hands‑on security and robust self‑protection.
The discussion highlighted the ongoing security transformation at 12 de Octubre Hospital. Its strategic direction aligns with the Madrid health network through coordinated security leadership, aiming to grow from a central hub into a comprehensive control center. This hub would collect knowledge and provide a forward-looking view to guide the development of additional buildings, standardize procedures, and harmonize responses across the hospital network as technology evolves.
Speakers reminded attendees that the Hospital Central Security Observatory serves as an integral pillar of this effort. They shared a common purpose based on the reality that 80 percent of the security challenges are shared among institutions and ultimately affect the patient experience simply and directly. The collaboration across hospitals and health authorities underscores a collective commitment to safer, more efficient digitized healthcare without compromising patient care.