Ospedali riuniti della Valdichiana

Ospedali riuniti della Valdichiana (United Hospitals of the Valdichiana) is a hospital complex located on Via Provinciale 5 in the hamlet of Nottola, about five kilometres from Montepulciano in Tuscany, Italy. It is a single-block (monoblocco) hospital managed by the Servizio sanitario della Toscana through the Azienda USL Toscana sud est. The facility was created to replace six smaller hospitals in the municipalities of Chiusi, Torrita di Siena, Sinalunga, Chianciano Terme, Sarteano and Montepulciano, and it serves a catchment area of 861 square kilometres. The hospital stands in open countryside among vineyards, occupying a site of about 13 hectares with a built surface of 65,000 square metres. Construction began with the laying of the first stone in 1995 and took about five years, with an investment of roughly 120 billion Italian lire. It entered service in 2000–2001 and was officially inaugurated on 14 January 2001. All staff from the former hospitals transferred to the new block, which employs around 500 people, including doctors, nurses, technicians, administrative staff and other health workers. The hospital has 255 beds and receives about 1,000 people daily. The facility has been recognised as one of Italy's safest and most welcoming hospitals by the Tribunale dei diritti del malato (Patients' Rights Tribunal) and holds the title of baby-friendly hospital, an international recognition awarded by UNICEF and the WHO. The building is arranged over seven floors, two of which are underground. The history of hospital care in the Valdichiana reaches back to the medieval spedali, charitable hospices founded by confraternities from around 1100 onwards. Montepulciano was already a hospital centre in the 11th–12th centuries, with several spedali that were gradually consolidated into the Spedali riuniti di San Cristofano. By the late 20th century the local hospital network consisted of six small facilities, none of which was complete on its own, forcing patients to travel between sites for tests and treatment. This fragmentation led to the monoblocco project, which centralised acute care in a single modern structure. Today the Ospedali riuniti della Valdichiana remains the principal public hospital for the Valdichiana, operating under the Tuscan regional health service.

Hospital care in the Valdichiana has ancient roots. The first spedali (hospices) were built by confraternities from around 1100 onwards, linked to the charitable institutions of those brotherhoods. Montepulciano was already a hospital centre in the 11th–12th centuries, with five hospices: the Spedale della Misericordia della Fraternità, the Spedaletti di San Giovanni and San Martino outside the Porta di Gracciano, the Spedale di Santa Maria della Cavina (founded in the 11th or 12th century and considered the most important), the Spedale di San Pietro outside Porta delle Farine, and the Spedale di Fonte al Vescovo at the San Biagio crossroads. These were buildings with a few large halls, near wells or cisterns, with a chapel or simple altar inside, often decorated with frescoes and sculptures. Between the 14th and 17th centuries the hospices were progressively merged into a single building, that of S. Maria della Cavina in Piazza delle Erbe, which took the name Spedali riuniti di San Cristofano and was enlarged in 1778 with materials from the demolition of the church and convent of Fonte Castello. In 1852 the Montepulciano hospice served as a foundling home for abandoned children, not only for Montepulciano but also for neighbouring towns; the ruota degli esposti, the revolving door through which children were admitted in complete anonymity, still exists. By 1894 the hospice had one ward for men and one for women, with a total of 150 patients, an infirmary and a modern operating theatre, well equipped thanks to funding from the Conti Bastogi. On 5 July 1908, representatives of the Regi Spedali Riuniti di San Cristoforo di Montepulciano, led by Rector Commendatore Ferdinando del Corto, purchased from Mr Gino Crociani for 8,500 lire some plots of land with a small hunting building at a place called Ponti Secchi, in what is now Via Calamandrei, covering 1.38.55 hectares. The purpose was to build a new hospital to replace the Spedali riuniti di San Cristofano. By the late 20th century, the Valdichiana hospital network consisted of six small hospitals in the municipalities of Chiusi, Torrita di Siena, Sinalunga, Chianciano Terme, Sarteano and Montepulciano. Following a reorganisation of the hospital network towards the end of the century, the Chiusi and Torrita di Siena facilities were closed. The remaining organisation was structured as follows: Sinalunga hospital provided medicine, surgery and first aid, and a psychiatric inpatient and treatment service; Montepulciano hospital housed the health directorate, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, a haemodialysis service and the local administrative centre; Sarteano hospital offered medicine and cardiology-UTIC; Chianciano Terme hospital had an emergency department, analysis laboratory, radiology with CT, medicine and surgery, digestive endoscopy, orthopaedics, ENT and ophthalmology. Because no single facility was complete, patients were forced to travel between sites for diagnostic tests, which led to the executive project known as the monoblocco ospedaliero (single-block hospital). The project timeline was as follows. In 1995 the first stone of the new single-block hospital was laid and the construction site opened. From 1995 to 1999, functional requirements were defined with individual department heads and the health directorate, and the design solutions were validated by the chief physicians; tenders and procedures for equipment and furnishings were launched and carried out, renewing both the technology and the furniture. From 1999 to 2000, the transfer of services from the four hospitals to the new block was studied and simulated. In 2000–2001 the departments began moving according to a set programme: on 6–7–8 November the blood transfusion and dialysis units; on 8 December the medicine departments of Sarteano, Sinalunga and Chianciano Terme; on 14 January the official inauguration; on 3 March the emergency department, surgery, digestive endoscopy, ENT and ophthalmology section; on 19 March obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatrics; and on 2 April intensive care, with the definitive closure of the old hospitals. The new hospital entered service in 2000–2001, was inaugurated on 14 January 2001, and required five years of work with an investment of about 120 billion lire. All staff from the old hospitals transferred to the single block, which employs around 500 people. The facility has 255 beds and a daily attendance of about 1,000 people. It has been awarded the title of Italy's safest and most welcoming hospital by the Tribunale dei diritti del malato and the title of baby-friendly hospital, an international recognition assigned by UNICEF-WHO. The structure is arranged over seven floors, two of which are underground.

• 2001

  Official inauguration on 14 January; remaining departments transfer through April, and old hospitals close.

• 2000

  Departments begin transferring to the new hospital; blood transfusion and dialysis move in November.

• 1995

  First stone laid for the new monoblocco hospital; construction begins.

• 1983

  The Valdichiana hospital network still consists of six small hospitals.

• 1908

  Land at Ponti Secchi is purchased for the construction of a new hospital.

• 1894

  The hospice has separate men's and women's wards, 150 patients, an infirmary and a modern operating theatre.

• 1852

  The Montepulciano hospice serves as a foundling home for abandoned children.

• 1778

  The Spedali riuniti di San Cristofano is enlarged using materials from the demolished church and convent of Fonte Castello.

• 1400

  Progressive consolidation of Montepulciano's hospices into the Spedali riuniti di San Cristofano.

• First spedali (hospices) begin to be built by confraternities in the Valdichiana.

Public regional hospital serving the Valdichiana area, recognised for patient safety and child-friendly care.

• Emergency department and first aid

• General medicine and surgery

• Obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatrics

• Haemodialysis and blood transfusion

• Digestive endoscopy

• Otorhinolaryngology and ophthalmology

• Intensive care

• Diagnostic imaging with CT

1. 1Ospedali riuniti della Valdichiana – Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2Ospedali riuniti della Valdichiana – Wikipedia (Italian)it.wikipedia.org