Today we began our daily adventures with a nice walk to the University of Austral where we met the province ministry of health, Dra. Josefina Medrano, who was the past minister of Health Province of Salta during the Covid-19 pandemic. We talked about the actions that she and her team took to ensure the people were well equipped in terms of resources and an overall efficient response to the pandemic as a whole. After this we took a bus to Fernandez Public Hospital of Buenos Aires where we talked the challenges that they face and how they are trying to implement more ways to overcome them. Then we took a quick little lunch break at Bio Restaurant before continuing at touring Los Arcos Private Hospital. Here we talked to Dr. Jorge Lantos who is the medical director of the hospital. It was clear based on the first impressions that this hospital invested in the latest medical technologies and have a state-of-the-art facility. They seem to have a lower patient-to-doctor ratio as well as being more expensive as they receive higher quality service and personalized care, reflecting this almost high-end hotel manner. On the other hand, the public hospital lacked that cutting-edge technology, but still provided essential healthcare services while focusing on affordability and accessibility to the people. Since the public hospitals are funded by the government, everyone who seeks treatment there must be treated regardless of their ability to pay. This was the major difference to the private sector as they are privately owned and operated, leaning towards a more expensive outcome. However, it was most definitely clear after today that going to one or the other depends on the individual’s needs, financial considerations, and the urgency of medical care. 

After coming back from the hospital visits, we are going to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. Currently writing this before I go so unfortunately no pictures (stay on the lookout for one at the end tomorrow), but that will be the end of the day and I will be here once again tomorrow to fill in on the day that we had. Until then…