OLYMPICS: Dedicated Olympic ER and ward for 2026 Games unveiled in Milan

MILAN — Athletes and support staff competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics will have access to a dedicated emergency room and hospital ward at Milan’s Niguarda Hospital.

The new facilities, officially unveiled Thursday, are part of a specialized Olympic medical network set up by the Lombardy region, which will host several events during the Games starting next week.

The network includes an Olympic Emergency Room, a 21-bed ward for athletes and support staff, and a central operations hub to track real-time medical incidents. The hospital’s general emergency room was also upgraded as part of the preparation.

Niguarda, which specializes in treating severe trauma, handles more than 300 patients daily through its general ER, including about four serious cases each day, according to a hospital spokesman.

The wider Olympic medical network includes medical stations near event venues, two polyclinics in the Bormio and Livigno areas — home to alpine skiing and snowboarding events — and a hospital in Sondalo. In the most serious cases, patients can be transported to Niguarda by helicopter.

The Lombardy region invested roughly 50 million euros ($59.8 million) to strengthen its medical services ahead of the Games, said Welfare Councillor Guido Bertolaso.

“The facility will be used during the Olympics and will remain available to all Lombardy residents afterward,” Bertolaso said at the opening ceremony.

Milan will host the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics on February 6, jointly with the town of Cortina in the Veneto region. The Games will run until February 22. -Reporting by Lisa Jucca in MilanEditing by Christian Radnedge/Reuters