Families report the lack of air conditioning in a nursing home in Barcelona: "It was 33 degrees!"

It is not the first time that the Barcelona residence Mossèn Vidal i Aunós de Barcelona is in the spotlight. At the beginning of the pandemic, it was one of the geriatric centers intervened by the Generalitat due to a lack of management resources, and four years ago the relatives of the elderly residents complained about the lack of air conditioning; a demand that resurfaces. This Monday, the Family Coordinator of Residences 5+1 assures that “in the midst of a heat wave” the air conditioning does not work and that yesterday it reached 33 degrees, which “puts the health and lives of the residents at risk , many with multiple pathologies that can be aggravated by these temperatures”. The center, with capacity for more than 100 users, is located in the neighborhood of La Bordeta and is publicly owned but privately managed.

The management company, L’Onada Serveis, has not made any statements about the event. It is limited to pointing out the statement they published this morning where they indicate that “the repair is just being carried out”. In the document, they relativize the problem, regretting “that a disproportionate use of this information has been made” and denying “categorically” the information disseminated by the relatives. The company claims that they noticed the fault last Thursday, “after doing the round of temperatures”. That day “they issued an alert and formal procedure for the breakdown” after checking that one of the devices was not working. According to L’Onada, the installation company was supposed to solve the situation last Friday, but “due to the peculiarity of the fault it could not be repaired until Monday”.

“Onada Services at all times has been working to protect vulnerable people”, assures the manager emphatically. It indicates that they put in motion “the corresponding protocol” with actions such as having several “ventilation and refrigeration devices to reinforce those already existing in the center”; displacing the residents of the fourth floor (the hottest) and all those housed with vulnerability, as well as “reinforcing the hydration and follow-up guidelines”.

Sources from the Coordinator argue that the company “has not put in place the necessary means while the repair was being carried out” since five days ago, when the relatives began to complain. This Sunday, a relative at 20.00 midday the temperature on his account notifying 33 degrees. For example, they point out that the said “portable air conditioners that can be rented” have not been arranged for all the plants and that the deputy director of the center admitted that they “didn’t have them”. “Fans are of no use in a heat wave”, they conclude.

The Coordinator also points to the Catalan Government as the other person responsible for this recurring situation. “The residence is falling apart, the facilities are outdated.” They point to a “lack of investment” in aspects such as the electrical installation, which prevents fans and cooling systems from being connected without jumping the leads. They also highlight the poor condition of the pipes in the building.

In 2019, the SOS Gent Gran association took the residence to the regional government for lack of air conditioning. Other family members even reported “malos tratos” in 2017. The Department of Work, Social Affairs and Families opened a sanctioning case in 2020, when the company was Eulen Servicios Sociosanitarios SA. They detected several irregularities in the management and attention to users during the health emergency caused by covid-19.