Hi everyone! We had the opportunity to spend the day at a private university today. It was a really nice and laid back day. We traveled over an hour to Hospital Universitario Austral. Within this hospital, there’s a huge university. It’s similar to how Pitt nurses and medical students work with UPMC.

When we arrived at the hospital, I was surprised by the amount of land on the campus. There were lots of trees and large grassy areas, which is different from all of the other hospitals we’ve visited thus far. While at the hospital, we had a Q&A session with Dr. Pellizzari, the chairman of quality of patient care. During the session, Dr. Pellizzari discussed how Austral is a traditional medical center and answered all our questions regarding private insurance. One point that stuck with me throughout the session was a challenge of the private sector. A major challenge right now is acquiring medical students and nurses. Because Austral is a private school, the tuition is not free, and the high costs are turning away potential students. The effects of less students working in healthcare is a shortage of workers, which leads to burnout for current workers and can harm patients since there is not enough staff. I enjoyed learning about Austral’s response to COVID as well. Unlike the U.S., there were no supply chain issues during COVID. I was majorly surprised to hear that suppliers adapted quickly and kept production stable. We then took a tour around the hospital. We toured the NICU, pediatric unit, and oncology unit. The hospital reminded me of hospitals I’ve been to in the U.S. There was ample technology and the building looked newer.

Here are some pictures from the hospital visit.

After visiting Austral and Swiss Medical, there are many differences between the two private hospitals. Austral’s philosophy is to let people stay in the hospital as long as they want, whereas Swiss Medical focuses on getting people in and out. Austral often has long wait times due to the high demand of appointments, which is a lot different that Swiss Medical. Because Austral is also a university, it functions more as an academically driven entity. Swiss Medical does not focus on medical education as much as Austral does. Another difference is Austral relies more on outside payers, whether that’s an obras sociales (social security), private insurance, or out-of-pocket. Swiss Medical’s biggest payer is their own insurance. There are a few similarities between the two as well. Both hospitals are technologically advanced and have great facilities and resources.

After our visit, we walked over to a hospice care center. We talked to one of the doctors from the clinic and he told us the mission of the is to not cure the patient, but to give them the best quality of life possible during their final days. It was really sad going into the silent building and seeing family members visiting their very sick loved ones.

We then went to a building to meet Austral students and have lunch. I had an amazing time talking to two students about their college experience. Both students were business majors, so I enjoyed getting to know how their classes vary from mine at Pitt. I also got to try mate for the first time! It’s sort of like a green tea. It was pretty good! Overall, it was a nice day and I’m excited for tomorrow.

My Pitt friends and new friends from Austral 🙂