It is one of the healthcare institutions associated to the University of Alcalá for the purpose of clinical internship.

[1] Named after the Spanish winner of Nobel Prize for Medicine Santiago Ramón y Cajal,[2] it was opened on 18 October 1977, receiving the nickname of el piramidón,[2] after Pyramidon, a analgesic administered very often at the time.

[2] It developed the first service in Spain for pediatric cardiology (1977) and the first unit of cardiac rehabilitation (1979).

[4] Aside from the teaching and medical attention features, it is noted by its research prowess[2][5] (the first in the region in scientific research production),[4] particularly in the scope of clinical microbiology and infectious diseases.

[6] At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemia in Madrid, in March and April 2020, the hospital had 994 beds occupied by patients of COVID-19.