Hospital Can Misses in Ibiza is preparing to open a new Pain Management Unit before the end of 2026, bringing specialist treatment for patients with persistent chronic pain to the island.

The new service is currently being prepared, with work underway to adapt the space and equipment already being purchased. The Balearic Islands Health Ministry estimates that the unit will begin operating before the end of the year.

The project represents an investment of close to €200,000 and is expected to progressively eliminate around 500 annual journeys to Mallorca by patients and accompanying relatives for specialist pain treatment.

A New Service for Ibiza and Formentera

The Pain Management Unit will provide specialised care for patients suffering from persistent chronic pain.

It will be a multidisciplinary service led by anaesthesiologists, with the participation of specialists including traumatologists, rehabilitation specialists and rheumatologists.

The creation of the unit expands the specialist services available at Can Misses and reduces the need for patients from Ibiza and Formentera to travel to Hospital Universitario Son Espases in Palma.

Hundreds of Patients Have Been Travelling to Mallorca

The scale of the existing need can be seen in the number of transfers from the Pityusic Islands to the Pain Management Unit at Son Espases.

According to the Ibiza and Formentera Health Area, there were 445 transfers in 2023, involving 525 people when patients and accompanying relatives are counted.

In 2025, there were 407 transfers to Palma.

The new unit is expected to progressively eliminate around 500 such journeys each year once the service is operating.

This will not only reduce travel for patients and their families but also the associated costs, including transport and subsistence expenses.

More Than 200 Square Metres

The new unit will occupy space on the first floor of Building J of the old Can Misses hospital, in an area that was used as the former maternity ward around a decade ago.

The planned facility covers slightly more than 200 square metres.

It will include:

• Two consultation rooms

• Two large procedure rooms

• Patient changing rooms

• Three storage areas

• Toilets

• A waiting room

• Nursing control area

Work is currently taking place to adapt the space for its new medical function.

Equipment for Guided Procedures

The new unit will also be equipped with a portable ultrasound machine that will allow specialists to perform ultrasound-guided techniques.

The equipment will be used for procedures including interventions involving the quadratus lumborum muscle, piriformis, trapezius, peripheral nerves, the thoracic wall and caudal epidural procedures, among others.

The Health Ministry says ultrasound guidance allows these techniques to be performed with greater precision and safety.

The equipment being acquired includes a Sonosite LX ultrasound system with convex and linear probes manufactured by Fujifilm Healthcare.

Additional equipment will include three reclining chairs, three monitors, three infusion pumps, medication storage equipment, a surgical lifting bed and two consultation examination tables.

Around €200,000 Investment

The total investment required to establish the new unit is estimated at close to €200,000.

This includes both the adaptation of the existing hospital space and the purchase of medical and other equipment.

The renovation work includes upgrades to electrical and communications systems, carpentry, plumbing, medical-gas and electromedicine installations, air conditioning, painting and building work.

Expected to Open Before the End of the Year

The new Pain Management Unit is not yet operational.

The Health Ministry says work is currently underway and equipment procurement has begun, with the service expected to start operating before the end of 2026.

Once operational, the unit will provide patients in Ibiza and Formentera with local access to specialist pain management that currently requires journeys to Palma.

For patients living on the islands, the change is expected to mean fewer hospital transfers, less travel and access to a new multidisciplinary specialist service closer to home.