The processes required to implement the phases of the of the Institutional and Academic Expansion Plan of the Hospital Universitario Nacional de Colombia (HUN) were presented as a priority in the work proposal of the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL) for the period 2020-2022. This plan was developed under the current administration of the faculty and the university, and its goal was to broaden the global concept of what was known as Phase II and is now known as the Expansion Phase.

Significant progress has been made in the expansion of the HUN from 2018 to date, which has been vital in contributing to this strategic megaproject that has been identified as the most critical for the UNAL. Thus, the university seeks to establish the HUN as the country's leading research and innovation laboratory, as well as the best university health teaching center. In this process, the professors of the School of Medicine and other faculties related to the health area have proposed that the HUN's expansion should be carried out through a collective construction exercise promoted by the university's top management and based on three axes: 1) transterritoriality, 2) research and innovation, and 3) person-, family-, community-, and population-centered care.¹ The following is a summary of each of the activities that have been undertaken as part of the expansion axes to achieve the aforementioned goals.

The first axis (transterritoriality) is about expanding HUN's activities, both in its facilities and in other places, so that its scope goes beyond the national level and the UNAL can reaffirm the leadership role it has had in health issues for the past 155 years. Accordingly, a proposal was made to create the National Health Campus on the premises of the Santa Rosa Campus and the HUN by expanding physical and technological infrastructure in 5 new health care centers, as well as the development of a training and service delivery model in line with the digital transformation outlined by the UNAL in the 2018-2021 Global Development Plan.

In this regard, as of the second half of 2021, the Vice Chancellor's Office of the Bogotá Campus assigned the spaces for the construction of the Hospital Universitario Nacional Virtual (National Virtual University Hospital), which implemented the provision of telemedicine and tele-education services at the national level, the National Center for Simulation in Health Sciences and the National Institute for Health Science Research and Innovation on the Santa Rosa Campus premises, which total more than 3 000m² and are expected to be fully operational within the next three years. Specific technical and financial projects are currently being undertaken for these 3 laboratories to enter Phase III of planning and thus adapt the spaces and equip them with the necessary technology.

Also, as a result of the advances achieved in the transterritoriality axis, the HUN is working to offer health care services remotely, as well as e-learning programs, and online research and innovation projects. The importance of such an initiative is paramount because, since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the HUN has been providing tele-guidance and tele-expertise services for the management of this disease in intensive care units through the Solidarity Tele-ICU program, but it also seeks to expand this same scheme to all the specialized services provided by the hospital.

In order to build the 5 new specialized centers, which will be specifically dedicated to health research, primary care, critical care, emergency care, the provision of high complexity services, simulation, wellness and other complementary hospital services, an urban planning study was conducted and filed before the Planning Department of the Capital District at the end of 2022 under the name Renovation and Management Plan (Plan de Renovación y Manejo-PRM) for the Santa Rosa Campus. This plan is supported by the District Health Department and defines important issues regarding additional construction indexes in 80 000m² (possible height levels of up to 15 floors, mobility, uses, and occupancy), as well as the environmental conditions required for a hospital complex of national reference such as the one proposed for the HUN.

Likewise, for the implementation of the HUN expansion project, complementary studies have been carried out, and said results will bring Phase II of the project's feasibility study to an end. Such studies include the financial feasibility study, which delivered results in early April 2022, and a technical study for the preparation of the Medical Architectural Program and the Master Plan, which is currently in the contractual process and will present results in June 2023.

It should be noted that in order to achieve progress in the transterritoriality axis, the environmental aspects of construction have been considered, as well as the latest technological advances, in order to meet the conditions of a digital and environmentally sustainable hospital (green hospital).

Meanwhile, progress in the second axis (research and innovation) is evidenced by an increase in the number of research projects and publications, as the HUN recently consolidated its position as the university hospital with the largest number of research groups in the country, with 33 groups officially classified by the Ministry of Science and Technology. It is worth mentioning that, among these research groups, 4 have the highest classification (A1), 2 are classified as A, 8 are B, 18 are C, and only 1 has a classification of Recognized.

In order to make further progress in this second axis, it is planned to build 11 robust and generic health research laboratories in a building at the Santa Rosa Campus that will be connected to the HUN and that will have the following groups in a 10-year prospective: telehealth with telemedicine and online education; bioinformatics, artificial intelligence and data science; nanotechnology; genetic engineering; immunology and translational research; personalized medicine; molecular pathology; neurosciences; robotics (diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation); proteomics and genomics; electron microscopy; human pathogens with biosafety levels 2 and 3 (BSL2 and BSL3); prototyping, 3D printing, support for patent generation and spin-offs; social and qualitative research area; and a hospital contract research and clinical trials office (CRO).

Finally, progress in the third axis (care centered on the person, the family, the community, and the population) is achieved through the consolidation of the model of care centered on the person; the family, comprising the patient and their relatives and caregivers; students; teachers; and HUN workers. This implies that the hospital should adopt an inclusive and interprofessional stance so that it can manage quality accreditation, both as a service provider and as a teaching hospital. Likewise, to achieve this, the 11 faculties at the Bogotá campus and many others at other campuses across the country have contributed to the quality of care and the changes in public policy to optimize welfare conditions and academic spaces.