Salamanca University Hospital: appointments from Béjar, Ciudad Rodrigo, Peñaranda and Vitigudino, how the day is organised and what a car with a driver is

What is the Salamanca University Hospital Complex, and who does it serve?

The Salamanca University Hospital Complex, run by Sacyl, is the reference hospital for the whole province and, in some specialities, for neighbouring provinces of Castilla y León. It stands on the Paseo de San Vicente, in the west of the city, next to the University's Unamuno campus and the Faculty of Medicine, and in recent years it has concentrated care in the new hospital building, with outpatient clinics, tests and wards on a single site. For a patient from outside the capital that simplifies the day: one address and one door, although the site is large and it helps to know which entrance to go to.

The province also has care closer to home for some appointments: the Virgen del Castañar hospital in Béjar and the specialist centre in Ciudad Rodrigo cover their districts in several specialities, and the health centres of Peñaranda, Vitigudino, Ledesma or Guijuelo provide primary care. But the province page is clear: for the reference hospital, the specialities and the tests you go to Salamanca, and an appointment usually takes half a day between travel, waiting and the trip home. What each centre treats is decided by Sacyl and stated on the appointment letter; this guide is only about the journey.

How do you get there from Béjar, Ciudad Rodrigo, Peñaranda and Vitigudino?

The province's roads fan out from Salamanca, so each market town has its dual carriageway or local road into the capital and then the same urban stretch to the Paseo de San Vicente. From Béjar the route climbs the A-66, with Guijuelo halfway and the final stretch along the ring road to the Paseo de San Vicente; it is the longest trip from the south of the province. From Ciudad Rodrigo, on the A-62, it is 88 km and about 61 min. From Peñaranda de Bracamonte, on the A-50, 47 km. And from Vitigudino, on the local road the province page describes as slow, 68 km and about 68 min; Ledesma, above the Tormes, is closer and has its own route page.

On public transport the problem is not the distance but the fit. The province's bus lines arrive at Salamanca's bus station, far from the hospital, with weekday departures designed around the working day and not around an appointment at nine or at four; from there you take a city bus or a taxi, and on the way back you wait for the next departure, which may be in the afternoon. For an elderly patient, for someone going to a fasting test or for someone coming out of a session that leaves them tired, that combination is why many families end up taking the day off to drive the relative themselves.

Is this medical transport, and what is a car with a driver?

It is not medical transport. Non-urgent medical transport is prescribed by the doctor and provided by Sacyl with its ambulances and contracted vehicles, for patients whose condition prevents them from using ordinary means; anyone with that prescription should use that service, and this guide does not replace it. A car with a driver is an ordinary passenger car, with a professional driver and a price fixed before booking, that takes a person who can travel seated, alone or accompanied, to their appointment and brings them back. The difference matters: no stretcher, no medical staff and no public health funding, but with the time the patient chooses and the exact door of the hospital.

You can ask for a wheelchair-adapted vehicle, saying so when booking, and a companion travels in the same car at no extra cost because the price is per trip, not per person. The driver helps with the chair, the walking frame or the bags to the door, but is not a carer or an auxiliary; if the patient needs help inside the hospital, they should go accompanied. The knowledge-centre piece on non-urgent medical transfers explains where the line lies between what a car with a driver does and what requires an ambulance, and the accessibility page says how to request the adapted vehicle and what rights someone with reduced mobility has when travelling.

How is the appointment day organised: outbound, waiting and return?

The simplest way is to book the outbound and return as a single service with waiting: the driver collects at home with the margin the road requires, drops at the outpatients door or the unit named on the letter, waits at the hospital or nearby and collects when the patient comes out. Appointments in Salamanca run late and tests overrun, so the return is booked with an approximate time and the patient calls when finished; waiting is charged according to the conditions on the help page, which is where they are written, not in this guide. For anyone who prefers two separate services, for example an appointment in the morning and the return at the end of the afternoon, they are booked separately and each has its own fixed price.

The province page gives the tip that comes up most: allow for long waits before the return. That is why many patients from Béjar, Ciudad Rodrigo or Vitigudino put two appointments, a test and an errand in the city on the same day, and the driver links them; from Santa Marta de Tormes or from Alba de Tormes, much closer to the hospital, the short outbound run and the return shared with another neighbour is common. Anyone who attends regularly, for instance for dialysis, rehabilitation or cancer treatment, can set up a recurring service with the same days and times, with a monthly invoice and a single booking; the fixed-service page explains how it is arranged.

What about referrals to Valladolid and Madrid, and how do you book?

Some tests and treatments Salamanca does not have are referred to hospitals in Valladolid or Madrid, and there the journey changes scale: Valladolid is reached on the A-62 past Tordesillas, with its route page published, and Madrid's hospitals are over two hundred kilometres via Ávila and the Guadarrama. If the referral comes with a medical transport prescription, Sacyl organises it; if not, the patient travels independently, and a car with a driver that waits avoids the train plus a taxi at the other end. The province's published routes to Madrid include Chamartín and Atocha, and the Madrid hospitals featured destination gathers the centres with their price from each Salamanca town.

Booking is done on the website or by phone with the pickup address, the hospital and, if known, the unit or the door, the date, the appointment time and whether an adapted vehicle or waiting is needed. The price is fixed before confirming and an invoice can be requested; a family can book for a parent who does not use the internet, and the driver receives the patient's name and a contact phone number. What the platform does is on the help page: fixed price, pickup at the door, invoice and, on request, an adapted vehicle. What it does not do, promise a car at any moment, is not promised here either: for a first-thing appointment from Vitigudino it is best to book days ahead.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Sacyl · Complejo Asistencial Universitario de Salamanca y centros de la provincia (consulted on 27 October 2026)
• Junta de Castilla y León · transporte sanitario no urgente y derechos del paciente (consulted on 27 October 2026)
• Ayuntamiento de Salamanca · autobuses urbanos y accesos al hospital (consulted on 27 October 2026)
• Ayuntamiento de Ciudad Rodrigo · servicios y transporte de la comarca (consulted on 27 October 2026)