The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) will deliver 18 field hospitals to the Italian Armed Forces, from which nine will be high tech treatment centres (16 for the Army, one for the Navy and one for the Air Force). The new facilities will augment and modernise the Italian military field equipment and enhance the country’s resilience to respond to medical emergencies. The initial requirement was received by NSPA at the end of 2018. Due to the current national health emergency, the first hospital has been delivered ahead of schedule. This was made possible by the close collaboration between NSPA, the Italian Land Armaments Directorate and the IV Logistic Department of the Italian Army General Staff. The facility is already operational and in use by the Italian Army. A second hospital will be delivered at the end of March.
The treatment facilities, located at the Cecchignola Military Compound (Rome), meet international medical standards and are equipped with state-of-the-art technology. They are organised in interconnected shelters and tents, divided into Triage, Emergency Room, Radiology and Echography Room, Surgery Room with Sterilization and Auxiliary units, Surgical Ward, Analysis Laboratory, a Pharmacy with its Warehouse and oxygen production unit, Management and Connection Areas. Another five high-tech facilities will be delivered throughout 2021 and the remaining ones will follow in 2022. In addition, NSPA will support the Italian Armed Forces with one Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) Treatment Centre and two modular bio-containment complexes, each with the capacity to support intensive care for up to four patients infected by COVID 19.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, NSPA has supported Italy through different initiatives, from the provision of medical equipment to innovative initiatives to help local hospitals in the south of the country. This has included the acquisition of two ambulances, two portable medical isolation chambers for use in hospitals, field camps and safe transport; sixteen acquired intensive care units ventilators and other protective medical supplies. In addition, NSPA engaged in innovative initiatives to help tackling the shortage of medical equipment in the south of the country through the production of 3-D printed items to protect health care workers. The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (L’Agence OTAN de soutien et d’acquisition, NSPA), abbreviated to , is the main logistics and procurement agency of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and is the executive branch of the NATO Support and Procurement Organisation (NSPO), formerly NATO Maintenance and Supply Organization (NAMSO).
