This improvement represents a significant increase in care, moving from five hours daily on weekdays (9 AM to 2 PM) to a twelve-hour window (8 AM to 8 PM) every day of the year. This will boost annual in-person service hours from the current 1,482 to 4,380.
During nighttime hours, patients will continue to be transferred to Vall d'Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, which has permanent on-call interventional neuroradiology. The goal is for the in-person service in Lleida to expand to all hours of the day, reaching 8,760 hours of annual coverage, by the third quarter of 2027.
Currently, both centers are working on defining protocols and training teams, while new professionals are being progressively incorporated to strengthen the extended service. This expansion will also include the addition of four beds to the HUAV's Stroke Unit, with the corresponding allocation of resources and staff.
The Stroke Code in Lleida and Alt Pirineu i Aran attends to approximately 600 patients annually, with good results.
Since 2012, the Tele Ictus program has enabled the connection of the HUAV with regional hospitals, facilitating real-time viewing of radiological images and remote examination by specialists in cerebral vascular pathology.
Similarly, the Joan XXIII University Hospital in Tarragona will also progressively expand its coverage for mechanical thrombectomies starting in April, in collaboration with Bellvitge University Hospital. The objective is to achieve full 24-hour, seven-day-a-week coverage by the end of 2027. The Joan XXIII Stroke Unit will add two new beds, bringing its total to eight operational beds.
