We started the day by having tango lessons at the IES office next to our hotel. The following thing we did was a tour of the Paroissien Hospital and then a tour of the National University of La Matanza. Both of these are owned by the government, which makes them free for locals. This hospital has very high volume—they care for 2,000,000+ people with only a little over 300 beds. One cool thing about this hospital is that it is the only hospital that has care units reserved for mental health patients. UNLaM’s university has a 5-year program with a Registered Nurse title after only 3 years. It is also public and free. During our tour of the university, we got the opportunity to witness a simulation of nursing students saving a manikin with a programmed simulation of the manikin crashing.

During the past few visits, we have compared how healthcare in Argentina and federalism differ in each hospital. Federalism is power divided between federal, provincial, county, and city governments. All the levels of government in Argentina—the federal, provincial, and municipal—can operate hospitals. The Paroissien Hospital is run by its province. This hospital does not have a strict budget, and it is mostly sufficient in that area. The difference between this hospital and San Isidro Hospital is that San Isidro receives limited funding and struggles to have highly sophisticated services because of that.

This difference shows how federalism directly impacts healthcare in Argentina: wealthier provinces or municipalities can offer better facilities, while poorer ones struggle to meet basic needs. Federalism allows for local control, but it also creates unequal access to higher-quality healthcare depending on where people live in Buenos Aires.