Last Tuesday, February 21st, the management of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and the Integral Health Consortium (IHC) presented the agreement that regulates the first phase of the collaboration process between both entities. The final aim of this process is to establish a relationship framework for the integration of IHC research into IDIBELL, a goal that is expected to be achieved in the coming years and for which three phases have been defined. The process in its entirety is endorsed by the IDIBELL Board of Trustees and the Governing Council of the IHC and responds to IDIBELL’s duty to foster the research that is carried out in the territory.
The first phase of the agreement is related to the management of the research that is currently being carried out at IHC. During this period, a follow-up commission will be created, which will work to ensure the implementation of the preestablished agreements, IHC centers will be placed within the scope of the Ethical Research Committee (CEIC / CEIm) of Bellvitge University Hospital, management of the IHC new clinical trials and biomedical research projects will be transferred to IDIBELL and IHC staff will become part of IDIBELL’s internal committees.
This first phase of collaboration is deemed to last approximately a year. Based on the results achieved, the second phase of the process will be carried out; this phase will be based on encouraging mutual knowledge between IHC and IDIBELL researchers in order to reach phase three, in which IHC researchers will affiliate as IDIBELL researchers.
The Integral Health Consortium is a public legal entity of the Generalitat of Catalonia, which is majority-owned by CatSalut and which is also a consortium of the Sant Joan Despí Town Council, the Hospitalet de Llobregat Town Council, the Barcelona Regional Council, the Catalan Health Institutte and the Red Cross. It currently manages different centers and services in its areas of influence: L’Hospitalet Nord, Baix Llobregat Center and Fontsanta and the Integral Health Area of the right side of Barcelona.