The technological infrastructure, with over 1 petabyte of capacity, ensures the hospital’s security, continuity of care, and cyber-resilience in Alicante.
The Doctor Balmis University General Hospital, a leading healthcare facility in Alicante province, has inaugurated a new Data Processing Center (DPC) integrated into the critical infrastructure of the Valencian health system. With a total investment of €800,951, the new DPC houses all the necessary IT and telecommunications systems to guarantee the continuity of healthcare services, even in the event of a power outage or serious technical incidents.
Located next to the hospital’s IT department, the center occupies a specially designed 35-square-meter room that ensures high availability, redundancy, energy efficiency, and cybersecurity. This initiative is part of the technological modernization strategy promoted by the Health Department, aimed at safely and effectively integrating cutting-edge health technologies.
“It will enable us to keep up with current and future health technologies,” stated Francisco Soriano, manager of the Alicante-General Hospital Department.
Critical infrastructure with over a million gigabytes of capacity
With an storage capacity exceeding 1 petabyte, the DPC becomes the technological core of the hospital. It hosts all systems managing vital information—from electronic health records, radiology systems, and medical prescription systems to emergency services, laboratories, and administrative processes.
The hospital’s financial director, Engracia Mira, emphasized that this development represents a significant improvement in performance and availability. “The data we handle are extremely sensitive. We need solutions that provide maximum protection and allow for immediate recovery in case of an incident, without affecting the patient,” she explained.
Technical design to ensure operational continuity
The DPC is equipped with ten racks or technical cabinets installed in a thermally optimized area that facilitates the housing of multiple IT and network devices, allowing for future growth of the hospital’s digital infrastructure. Rubén Navarro, head of the IT Service, highlighted the importance of having a robust and scalable solution.
In terms of power, the facility has two 60 kVA Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems and a 125 kVA generator, ensuring critical healthcare services remain uninterrupted during power outages.
High security and energy efficiency
The center’s protection has been strengthened with an advanced fire suppression system, precision climate control, and a sophisticated alarm system that reports anomalies in real-time to the technical team. Additionally, it has a low Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) index, indicating that most of the energy is dedicated directly to data processing, reducing environmental impact and meeting the highest environmental standards.
Modernization in service of digital health
The installation of the new DPC reinforces the Doctor Balmis Hospital’s position as one of the most advanced healthcare technology centers in the Valencian Community. Thanks to this new infrastructure, the hospital can ensure safer, faster, and more efficient care, aligned with the current demands of digital health and the technological transformation of the public system.
This advancement not only improves internal management but also enhances the hospital’s ability to adapt to future technological innovations, reaffirming its key role in healthcare delivery in southeastern Spain.
Source: GVA link