The Nuestra Señora de Candelaria University Hospital, affiliated with the Canary Islands Government's Ministry of Health, is hosting the II Humanization Conferences this Tuesday, October 27. The event, celebrating the hospital's sixtieth anniversary, brings together over a hundred healthcare professionals in the auditorium of the School of Nursing.
Promoted by the hospital complex's Humanization Commission, the conferences aim to foster knowledge exchange on patient care, specialized treatment, and the experience gained over six decades of the center's history. Rita Tristancho, Director General of Patient and Chronicity for the Canary Islands Government, emphasized the importance of these initiatives for advancing more human and accessible care. She highlighted the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS)'s Strategy for Person-Centered Healthcare 2025-2029, designed to adapt healthcare to citizens' needs and improve professional well-being.
The strategy includes 78 actions across five axes, focusing on improving care processes, supporting SCS professionals, enhancing healthcare space accessibility, promoting citizen participation, and fostering a people-centered organizational culture. Tristancho pointed to participatory governance as a key differentiator, citing the Humanization Commission of La Candelaria Hospital as an example, which now includes two patients among its members.
The hospital's manager, Óscar Díez, thanked the healthcare professionals for the care and attention that have characterized La Candelaria Hospital throughout its sixty-year trajectory, establishing healthcare based on professional excellence, closeness, empathy, and respect.
The conference program features a debate on the evolution of healthcare, sessions on humanization initiatives in intensive care and pediatric/neonatal care, and a dialogue with patients and their families. Topics include the shift from paternalistic care to person-centered care, patient rights, and shared decision-making. Representatives from the Patient School, the Fundación Canaria Pequeño Valiente, and the Fundación Alejandro Da Silva, along with a caregiver, will participate in the 'Patient's Voice' session. The closing lecture will be delivered by specialist physician Julio Gómez.
These events are part of the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of La Candelaria Hospital, which also include the display of a banner and a mural detailing the health center's historical milestones, as well as the publication of a digital book chronicling its care, teaching, and research achievements.
