Today was another day at Austral. We started off the day with a tour of the hospital of Austral. This site visit was interesting because it was completely different than company visits I am used to. I really enjoyed seeing and understanding medical terms and systems in a real-life hospital.
The past two days with lectures and visits, I have learned that the school and the hospital are very transparent with their information. In their mission statement, they state that they work for pursuit of truth. I personally interpret this as its transparency. During the lectures, yesterday, Dr. Pellizzari and Dr. Gabón were very clear on the problems and challenges the school and the medical center are facing. Even when we asked a question, they answered with honesty and in a very detailed way. For example, Dr. Pellizzari talked about patient flow issues at Austral. The hospital has a very high rate of bed occupation. He mentioned all the causes that lead to this problem and how the hospital would need more nurses, equipment, and tests to solve the problem. However, this solution increases cost which restricts the hospital to tackle this challenge.
Another mission of Austral is that they pursue a culture of life. I interpreted this part of the mission statement as to their ethical values as a human being. During the tour, one of us asked the nurse, “what happens when someone needs medical attention from something that happened right in front of the hospital, but he or she does not have the correct insurance to be treated at Austral?” The nurse gave us an answer that even though the hospital is private and only should treat people who are allowed to be treated at private hospitals, ethically, they would treat that person as they can give medical service immediately. I really valued this answer because I felt that their main purpose of service is for the well-being of patients even if it means they have to break some rules. In addition, the culture of the hospital was not what I thought in my mind. I assumed, from my past experiences, that hospitals have a very stressed, high-paced environment. However, I realized that at Austral, every worker made the environment very uplifting. I really enjoyed the liveliness, enthusiasm, and passion every staff, doctor, and nurse had.
Today was a very engaging day as we spent the rest of the day with students of Austral. We were able to be in an MBA class. I really enjoyed this because it was exactly what I had just learned in Operations Management this spring. We also had a mixer with students and made inspirational posters for nutritional community centers. I am excited about what we get to experience tomorrow, but mostly for a later start in the morning.