Waiting for the lecture to begin.
What an exciting day we had in Argentina. Similar to yesterday, I began my day with the provided breakfast at the hotel. I am still so impressed with the options they give us. I have been loving the cheese and pastries. All of it tastes so good. After breakfast, we made our way over to speak with Dr. Daniel Ferrante, the current Deputy Minister of Health of CABA (city of Buenos Aires). He gave us an interesting point of view as a government official and was gracious enough for us to come into a beautiful meeting room.
Dr. Daniel Ferrante speaking to us.
Dr. Daniel Ferrante told us about the 34 public hospitals within the city and that it is so important to know the population in order to treat them effectively. We learned of the importance of unions and even the effects that COVID-19 had. When the pandemic hit, employment was a difficult issue, which caused trouble within the Obras Sociales. I found it interesting that even within the city of Buenos Aires, different areas had specific health disparities. The public sector can be greatly overwhelmed with people from the province coming in and utilizing the great facilities. Still we discussed the lack of primary care centers and the impact it has on the healthcare system. Access is still a large problem within the public sector. Long wait times are still trying to be solved.
Photo with friends and beautiful artwork.
Group photo after the lecture.
Next, we went to hear from the current Director of Obra Social de Obras Sanitarias and past Superintendent of Health, Dr. Luis Scervino. As someone who is focusing on the Obras Sociales, I found this lecture to be very interesting. He began to educate us on the very complex system that makes up social insurance. He stated that 100% of people have access to care, meaning they can walk into a hospital and get treatment. However, only 64% have additional coverage other than the public sector, meaning they are a part of an Obras Sociales or pay for the private sector. We then began the discussion of Obras Sociales and the various types with unions in trades, provinces, universities, and government. Each of these Obras Sociales have so much power within Argentina. Apart from healthcare, unions provide labor regulations as well. This is a very important thing within Argentina as unions place you into a social setting with similar people. Some unions are a part of high income occupations and contract with private hospitals. As unions grow, they increase in power and have more influence in society. For example, Dr. Gabriel Novick mentioned that physicians are a part of a union. Within Buenos Aires, they have a lot of power due to the high number of hospitals and clinics. If they went on strike, there would be serious consequences, so throughout negotiations, they have lots of power. Dr. Luis Scervino also mentioned how employment and inflation greatly impacted the Obras Sociales within Argentina. You need people to earn an income in order to be successful financially as well as the worth of the peso to stay constant in order to provide care. Overall, it was very educational and I learned a lot.
Sports area in La Boca.
Some of the beautiful wall colors in La Boca.
La Boca and myself!
Following the two lectures, we enjoyed a delicious pizza for lunch. I even got to try my first Argentine Sprite and I was satisfied. Once we were filled up, we began a bus tour of Buenos Aires. Our first location was La Boca, where we explored the beautiful artwork and got to purchase Messi jerseys! We then further explored the city and saw different neighborhoods. To end the night, I enjoyed a steak dinner with friends!
My steak dinner!
Me and an Argentina flag!!