Andorra Authorizes Nine Cardiologists for New Hospital Heart Unit Launch

The Andorran government has authorized nine part-time cardiologists to join the team led by Dr. Josep Brugada, paving the way for the new cardiovascular intervention unit at Nostra Senyora de Meritxell Hospital to launch this summer.

The specialists will integrate into Brugada's group at the hospital's haemodynamics service. Brugada, through his company Institut Cardiovascular d'Andorra 2021 SL—the winner of the public tender for the service—holds a renewed two-year authorization to practice interventional cardiology in Andorra. This follows an initial five-year approval in 2021 and comes amid ongoing needs in the field, with positive endorsements from the College of Andorran Physicians, the Technical Evaluation Committee, and the Health Ministry.

Construction of the €1 million facility on the hospital's -2 level, adjacent to the operating theatres, continues apace under the Andorran Health Care Service (SAAS). The unit will enable basic and scheduled interventional cardiology and haemodynamics procedures, such as pacemaker implants, electrophysiology studies, arrhythmia treatments, and simple intracoronary stent placements. Complex or urgent cases, including code infarct emergencies, will still transfer to reference centres abroad.

Officials estimate the service will treat around 400 patients each year, eliminating the need for overseas travel that currently affects all such interventions. Brugada, an international authority on arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death—who co-identified Brugada syndrome with his brothers—will oversee electrical heart activity studies alongside the haemodynamics team.

This expansion builds on recent hospital upgrades, like the breast unit, and strengthens local advanced care capacity.