SEISMIC WORKS DANIELA PEDRINI – S.I.A.I.S. PRESIDENT AND PAST PRESIDENT OF THE IFHE, ITALY
Masterplan for seismic improvement works
Daniela Pedrini, S.I.A.I.S. President and Past President of the IFHE, discusses a master plan for seismic upgrading works to The University Hospital of Modena.
Figure 1. University Polyclinic of Modena.
The University Hospital of Modena in Italy is the main point of reference for the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE) in the areas of healthcare, teaching, and research within the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery. Since 2019, the organisation has been structured around two hospital facilities: the Policlinico of Modena (Fig 1) and the Baggiovara Civil Hospital (Fig 2), with a total capacity of 1,154 beds (634 at the Polyclinic and 520 at Baggiovara).
Mission and excellence in care Building on the Polyclinic’s sixty years of history, the University Hospital pursues four core objectives: meeting healthcare needs, ensuring the highest quality of care, fostering research, and driving technological innovation. Patients across the two hospitals
benefit from cutting-edge technologies, including a linear accelerator for radiation oncology, robotic platforms for minimally
Figure 2. Baggiovara Civil Hospital.
invasive surgery, next-generation ophthalmology lasers, and biplane angiographs for interventional neurology. Continuous improvements are also being made in terms of patient comfort, welcoming facilities, and technological equipment. The Polyclinic plays a particularly
strategic role in the management of maternal and child healthcare, hosting Paediatric Haematology-Oncology, the Assisted Reproduction Center, the Natural Birth Center, and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. It is also home to the Breast Unit certified by the European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists (EUSOMA) and to several highly specialised departments such as kidney and liver transplantation, hepatobiliary-pancreatic surgery, arrhythmology, genomics, and hand surgery. In 2022 alone, the Polyclinic’s A&E Department registered over 60,000 visits, while more than 45,000 patients
accessed direct-admission specialty clinics (paediatrics, ophthalmic emergencies, and hand surgery), confirming the hospital’s central role for the city and the province.
The historic Monoblock: a hospital of the Twentieth Century The Polyclinic complex is located in the southeast area of Modena, near the university campus, covering an area of 347,101 m2 180,697 m2
with total building space of .
The ‘Monoblock’ – the historic core of the hospital – was first designed in 1933. This structural type, common in the United States in the 20th century, marked a significant departure from the traditional pavilion-style hospitals, introducing a more functional design with elevators and freight lifts to improve vertical circulation. Architecturally, the building reflects the
Rationalist movement, with reinforced Daniela Pedrini
Daniela Pedrini is President of S.I.A.I.S. TSO (the Italian Society of Architecture and Engineering for Healthcare, which brings together engineers, architects, and technical professionals working in the hospital and healthcare infrastructure sector) and Past President of the IFHE. Since 1990, she has been an executive within the Emilia-Romagna Regional Health Service (in the hospital and healthcare facilities of Modena, Parma, Imola, and Bologna), with responsibilities in the design and technical management of hospital facilities and systems. The Director of the Technical, Planning,
Development and Investment Department until 2021, Daniela is currently Director of the Master Plan and Investment Coordination Unit at the University Hospital of Modena. She managed a multimillion-euro PFI contract for the
complete restructuring of the hospital’s energy production system. Daniela is author of numerous national and international publications, and a lecturer in several disciplines of hospital engineering and university master’s programmes, as well as a speaker at national and international conferences.
18 IFHE DIGEST 2026
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