What is a good trip without some bumps in the road? Today checked that travel must off the list. The Traffic in Argentina can vary, but it usually takes a long period to get where you need to. The primary source of transportation (Bus) was delayed due to traffic. So, we all took cabs to our first destination, making us a little late. A good thing about our schedule is that it can change quickly.
The cab trip is very different from what we call Uber at home. When I sat in the motor vehicle, I knew it would be a new experience. The driver was like Lighting McQueen in the movie Cars. They were shifting from lane to lane, squeezing in between. Truthfully, he was not the only one racing to the finish line. That is how the whole city of Buenos Aries drives. I appreciate getting a new sense of what the city is like for ordinary people who come in or from work daily.
Once arriving at the Swiss Medical Hospital of Sartorio of Arco’s building, a lecture from Dra. Josefina Medrano waited for us to listen. She talked about her time as a minister of Health in Salta during the period of covid. Salta is a rural province compared to Buenos Aires, creating challenges that many accessible areas of South America could not understand at the time. The scale of the landscape terrain made it difficult to communicate and receive supplies during the pandemic, as Dra. Josefina Medrano discusses what hard decision she had to make in the crisis. I realized how much power she had over that province’s people. She could mandate quarantine or shut down provinces because of the implementation of federalism. Showing the apparent differences between Argentina’s National and Provincial governments based on federalism. The federal government has little influence over health care planning. The planning is primarily up to the local government. The main job of the National government is to distribute funds from national banks to all the provinces as equally as possible based on health needs.
Next, Up Hospital Fernandez is one of the top hospitals in Argentina and is nationally recognized worldwide. We gather ourselves in the room to discuss logistics with the director Ignacio. He was a treat, constantly spilling out more and more information showing how passionate he was about the hospital. We discuss the advances the hospital has made in recent years, such as increased beds, billing the companies of private or union health care of the people who come there, and the incorporation of technology in just only emergency unit and the ICU. He showed us around the hospital, bringing us from floor to floor. I was made quite uncomfortable walking around the foundation of the ICU units. I felt like a trespasser. I was violating the patient’s privacy to have peace while being treated. All the doors were open, and I could see into every room on the floor. It should not bother the patients, doctors, nurses, and the patient’s families. As a nursing student, HIPPA is dire through my head and, overall, respecting patients. The culture in Argentina is just more old fashion when it comes to health care based on patients. Though I’m very appreciative that I was allowed to see it. It was very eye-opening, and I could never experience that environment anywhere in America.
