Day 4! Today started with a lecture by Dra. Josefina Medrano, the first woman to serve as Minister of Health for the province of Salta. Her lecture touched on the challenges and opportunities associated with her role, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to its mountainous features and geographical location, Salta faces a number of impediments when it comes to access to healthcare. For instance, the procurement of services is way more difficult to achieve in a fair and efficient manner. Another challenge the province of Salta faces is the lack of technology in healthcare settings. Obviously, the pandemic made all of Salta’s challenges rise to the surface, leaving Dr. Medrano with the task of facing the public’s frustrations. However, with time, the people of Salta have come to recognize Dr. Medrano’s leadership, and effective management of the pandemic and its aftermath.
In Salta, Medrano had complete authority over all healthcare-related decisions. This only serves to highlight the extent of the province governments’ authority. The situation in Salta is entirely different from that in neighboring provinces like Buenos Aires. Medrano was forced to act accordingly for her particular province. However, Medrano was still influenced by the overall healthcare policy and funding established by the national government. Therefore, the national government is in charge of regulating and funding the healthcare system, even if each province still retains some autonomy to adjust its healthcare services to the specific needs and demands of its population.
After our lecture with Dr. Medrano, we headed to a public hospital here in Buenos Aires called Hospital Fernandez. The director of the hospital, Dr. Ignacio Previgliano, was kind enough to give us a lecture and a quick tour of the public hospital. Since we had only visited a private facility in the city, it was quite interesting to experience how different a public hospital really is. During the tour, we got to see the hospital’s ICU and ER units. Honestly, it was sad and somewhat shocking to see patients in critical condition just lying there in their hospital beds. However, it did help to put things into perspective. I feel fortunate to be in good health in order to personally experience things like this, both good and bad, in Argentina.
Once the hospital tour ended, we stopped at IES for a quick lunch break. Then, we headed out for a walking tour of Recoleta and eventually arrived at Cementerio de la Recoleta. While walking around the cemetery, it was really interesting to see the different mausoleums and the ornate architecture and decoration of its tombs. Patricia, our tour guide, made a point of stopping at the tombs of a few notable individuals and provided some background information on who they were and how they came to be buried there. We even got to see the grave of Eva Perón’s grave! Since it was her birthday just a few days ago, her grave was totally covered in flowers. It was truly a unique experience.
