Majadahonda will open a 14-million mental health centre

The complex will be part of Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro and will be built on a municipal plot on Manuel de Falla Street, next to the Valle de la Oliva health centre. The works will be put out to tender in the coming months and are expected to last 19 months.

The building will occupy 6,710 square metres spread over four floors and will have two outdoor courtyards. The project incorporates energy-efficiency and renewable-energy criteria, as well as spaces designed to reduce the feeling of stress during consultations.

Care will be divided between adult services, child and adolescent services, and a new Day Hospital for teenagers. This latter unit will make it possible to treat cases requiring intensive follow-up without necessarily resorting to full hospital admission.

The centre will have 58 individual consulting rooms, eight rooms for group therapies and three low-stimulation spaces. These facilities will be specially adapted for people who may feel overwhelmed in healthcare settings, including some patients with autism spectrum disorder.

Nearly fifty professionals will work at the new facilities. The team will include psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, nursing staff, occupational therapists, social workers and auxiliary care technicians.

Care will be coordinated with educational centres, drug-dependence services, psychosocial rehabilitation resources and juvenile justice and protection bodies. Continuity-of-care programmes will make it possible to maintain follow-up of patients once the more intensive care has ended.

The change will reduce pressure on the current Cerro del Aire centre and prevent some users from having to travel elsewhere to receive certain treatments. The effect will be felt especially by families with children and adolescents, who will gain a specific resource closer to home.