We are the combination of four hospitals: the General Hospital, the Children’s Hospital, the Women’s Hospital and the Traumatology, Rehabilitation and Burns Hospital. We are part of the Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus: a world-leading health park where healthcare plays a crucial role.
Patients are the centre and the core of our system. We are professionals committed to quality care and our organizational structure breaks down the traditional boundaries between departments and professional groups, with an exclusive model of knowledge areas.
Would you like to know what your stay at Vall d'Hebron will be like? Here you will find all the information.
The commitment of Vall d'Hebron University Hospital to innovation allows us to be at the forefront of medicine, providing first class care adapted to the changing needs of each patient.
The Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department offers comprehensive. multidisciplinary treatment for patients, with the aim of achieving the highest level of autonomy, functional capacity and quality of life, using therapeutic measures and technical support aimed at correcting or minimising the disability diagnosed.
Ours is a transversal department, meaning we collaborate with many other medical and surgical departments at the Hospital. Our ability to provide support in all healthcare areas guarantees coordinated care for patients throughout their stay. We are a reference centre in Catalonia for various highly complex processes (spinal cord injury, acquired brain damage, spina bifida, burns) and we also engage in teaching and research.
At the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, we collaborate directly with various other medical and surgical departments at the hospital and share multidisciplinary patient care units. We are involved in virtually all units that deal with rare illnesses.
At our Department, in addition to doctors specialising in physical medicine and rehabilitation, we also have physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, auxiliary technicians in nursing care, monitors and administrative staff. Teamwork is the defining feature of our specialty. Our multidisciplinary rehabilitation team also includes specialised nursing staff, an orthopaedic technician and a social health worker.
We are a cross-cutting service with a dual focus: community and tertiary care. We treat patients from our catchment area, as well as those requiring highly specialized care. We are based in an acute care hospital where we increasingly manage more complex cases. In addition, we provide outpatient care in primary care centers (CAP d’Horta, Xafarines, Guineueta, and Roquetes).
We also manage the Neurorehabilitation Day Hospital, where patients with acquired brain injury can maintain continuity of care through an intensive rehabilitation program across different treatment areas, facilitating their return home and reintegration into their previous environment.
We have treatment areas across the three buildings of Vall d’Hebron Hospital (Traumatology, Rehabilitation and Burns; General Hospital; and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital), where physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy are provided to both inpatients and outpatients. We also have treatment areas at CAP d’Horta and Parc Sanitari Pere Virgili (Tramuntana Building), where outpatient treatments are carried out.
We are a service adapted to new technologies: we use telerehabilitation platforms and have technologically advanced therapeutic areas equipped with robotics, as well as virtual reality and gaming solutions.
Neurorehabilitation and Acquired Brain Injury Unit
We provide comprehensive and, when required, intensive care for patients with stroke, traumatic brain injury, or acquired brain injury in general. Treatment includes physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, swallowing disorders management, and neuropsychology.
We have an inpatient ward where patients begin intensive treatment in the early phase, which is then continued on an outpatient basis at our center or in our Day Hospital. These resources ensure continuity of care throughout the different stages of the rehabilitation process.
We follow patients from their admission to the hospital, including Critical Care Units, the Stroke Unit, Neurosurgery, and Neurotraumatology. This is a technologically advanced unit, incorporating robotics and virtual reality.
In the outpatient setting, the unit is a reference center for the treatment of complications such as spasticity. We provide botulinum toxin injections and run a multidisciplinary neuro-orthopedic clinic.
Musculoskeletal and Specialized Units
Spinal Cord Injury Unit
A reference center in Catalonia and Spain for the treatment of spinal cord injuries. We provide comprehensive care for acute and subacute patients, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, botulinum toxin injections, wound and ulcer management, and seating assessment for independent sitting.
We also run outpatient clinics for chronic patients and provide treatments with Advanced Practice Nurses for osteoporosis, spasticity, pain management (including injections), and baclofen pump refills.
Pediatric Rehabilitation, Cerebral Palsy and Spina Bifida Unit
We provide care for children aged 0–16 with neurological conditions arising before, during, or after birth, as well as medical, traumatic, muscular, tumoral, or orthopedic conditions, including multilevel surgery.
We ensure continuity of care for chronic pediatric patients, as these conditions are not transitioned elsewhere. We offer multidisciplinary care in collaboration with neonatology, neuropediatrics, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, and others. Treatments include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and botulinum toxin injections.
Complex Medical Rehabilitation Unit
A multidisciplinary and cross-functional unit addressing all conditions requiring evaluation by a rehabilitation physician. It includes:
Phoniatrics, Speech Therapy and Swallowing Disorders Unit
This is the only unit in the public healthcare network in Catalonia covering all language, voice, speech, and hearing disorders, as well as swallowing disorders in both children and adults.
We carry out early detection of hearing impairments, including neonatal screening in high-risk newborns, in collaboration with the ENT and Neurophysiology (Evoked Potentials) departments. We monitor children with hearing loss, prescribe hearing aids, collaborate with CREDA, and participate in cochlear implant rehabilitation programs.
We perform videolaryngostroboscopy and instrumental voice analysis. We provide care across all Vall d’Hebron areas in collaboration with the Dysphagia Unit and Nutrition, and assess the integration of eye-tracking communication systems.
Undergraduate Education
The service hosts undergraduate students from the teaching unit affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), who complete clinical placements in Rehabilitation and Traumatology.
Teaching is shared across the service due to student rotations through different sections. This work is essential for enriching and complementing theoretical knowledge acquired during medical training.
Postgraduate Training
The Rehabilitation Department hosts four residents per year, who complete a four-year specialty program. This represents a major commitment by the entire service to provide comprehensive training across all units.
We are a national reference center for training specialists in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, having trained residents since the start of the national residency program (MIR) in 1968.
We also host residents from other specialties (traumatology, family medicine, rehabilitation) for rotations, both nationally and internationally. The service has four resident tutors (consultant physicians) who play a key role in supervising training. Clinical activity is complemented by theoretical and practical teaching sessions, as well as active resident participation in structured weekly service meetings.
Continuing Education
The service promotes regular scientific sessions covering topics of general interest, with active participation from rehabilitation professionals and collaboration with other departments, reflecting its cross-disciplinary nature.
Advanced Specialized Training
The Rehabilitation Department actively contributes to courses, conferences, and training activities both in Catalonia (through the Catalan Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine) and in Spain (through active participation in SERMEF and its affiliated groups), as well as in international scientific societies.
The Rehabilitation Department currently forms a Consolidated Research Group within VHIR, aimed at promoting research into more effective strategies for prevention, functional recovery, and improving patients’ quality of life.
This research group includes physiotherapists and academic collaborators from the UAB, Universitat Ramon Llull, Universitat Jaume I, and the University of Andorra. It participates in innovation projects in collaboration with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as technology transfer initiatives with other research groups at national and international levels, contributing to projects and networks endorsed by scientific societies.
Multidisciplinary nursing research group
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