The Valdecilla Health Research Institute (IDIVAL) has been recognized as Best Healthcare Entity at the 2025 New Medical Economics Awards, which each year highlight excellence, innovation, and the healthcare sector’s commitment to society.
Following an evaluation process that combined the scrutiny of its Editorial Board and the participation of its readers, New Medical Economics magazine selected the winners of its 2025 edition, recognizing the work of professionals, institutions, and organizations that are transforming healthcare through management, research, digitalization, and the humanization of care.
This award reaffirms the talent, effort, and vocation for service of IDIVAL, as an institution that promotes a more efficient, more humane, and more sustainable healthcare system every day, fully aligned with the values upheld by the prize.
A center of excellence, a benchmark in research, innovation, and public health
The IDIVAL Health Research Institute stands as a true center of excellence in biomedicine and public health, integrated into Cantabria’s healthcare system and closely connected with the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital and the University of Cantabria. It is accredited by the Carlos III Health Institute, ensuring that its research processes adhere to international standards of quality and rigor.
Its structure includes multiple research groups working across diverse strategic areas, enabling it to promote translational science that bridges laboratory discoveries with clinical practice and direct patient care, generating a tangible impact on population health.
In addition, IDIVAL actively promotes technological innovation and the digitalization of healthcare: for example, it launches specific calls to support the recruitment of young talent, research in primary care and nursing, and the development of clinical trials. Thanks to these efforts, it positions itself not only as a generator of knowledge but also as an engine of transformation for the healthcare model, oriented toward personalized medicine, the humanization of care, and the sustainability of the healthcare system.
A decade of growth and consolidation
The recognition of IDIVAL comes after a decade marked by sustained growth and profound institutional transformation. Since 2015, the institute has grown from 175 active clinical studies to more than 600 in 2025, tripling its research activity and consolidating a highly professionalized support structure. In the past five years, income from clinical trials has increased by 168%, rising from 2.5 million euros in 2019 to nearly 7 million in 2024.
Scientific impact has also advanced significantly: its impact factor has tripled in ten years, reaching 5,382 points, while the publications by its researchers have increased in both quantity and quality, with greater representation in first-quartile journals. This progress has been supported by the development of nearly thirty research groups, the doubling of scientific staff, the tripling of the support and management team, and an exponential rise in national and international projects, which have quadrupled over the last decade. This evolution reflects IDIVAL’s commitment to scientific excellence, knowledge transfer, and the continuous improvement of Cantabria’s healthcare system.A Recognition for a Team and a Region
This award recognizes not only the institution but also the entire research, clinical, technical, and administrative staff who work every day in Cantabria in pursuit of healthcare excellence. IDIVAL thanks New Medical Economics for the distinction and reaffirms its commitment to continue driving initiatives that enhance care quality, sustainability, and social impact.
Sector context
It is worth noting that in the previous 2024 edition of the New Medical Economics Awards, the prize for “Best-Managed Public Hospital” was awarded to the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital (Santander). This previous recognition reinforces Cantabria’s commitment to high-level public healthcare and serves as a reference point for the significance of this new award granted to IDIVAL.
