We started off the day with a tango lesson taught by two professional tango dancers at the IES headquarters. This was definitely a highlight, as it was so cool to watch and learn to do Argentina’s cultural and most famous dance. After lunch, we took the bus to Paroissien Hospital in La Matanza, a public, provincial hospital. There, we took a tour and learned about how the hospital is run. Even though it lacked financial support and resources, the hospital was full of many dedicated healthcare workers, who are very passionate about helping their patients. It was very surprising to me that even though this hospital clearly has deficient funds, it still had programs to help the community such as vaccinations, mental health resources, sex education, classes for high school diploma completion, and rooms for mothers to stay in with babies in the NICU. We then headed over for a visit at the National University of La Matanza, a public university that has free tuition and many first generation students. We were welcomed by their nursing students, who performed a CPR simulation. This was then followed by a short presentation of the University and then a discussion along with the students there about the private vs public healthcare system in Argentina and the United States healthcare system. I really enjoyed this part of our visit, as both us and the Argentine students were learning about the other’s health care system. 

Federalism is the distribution of power of the government between central and regional branches. Each branch (or level) has its own regulations, and resources. The United States has a federal system, where the power starts at the national level, then proceeds state level, and then down to the city/county level of government. In Argentina, the levels go from national to provincial to municipal. The first hospital we saw was San Isidro Hospital, which is a public municipal hospital. It is owned and financed by their province (Buenos Aires) and has a significant amount of money coming in through taxes because it is a more wealthy area, allowing members of the community to pay higher taxes. In turn, more money cycles through this hospital, giving it more accessibility, technology, efficiency, and an overall better quality of care services. Today we toured Paroissien Hospital in La Matanza, a public provincial hospital. Because it is provincial, Paroissien Hospital receives their funding directly from the national government, and although taxes also contribute to their funding, they serve to be detrimental. The area around Paroissien Hospital has much lower income rates and higher crime rates than San Isidro Hospital, meaning that its people are not able to pay high taxes, which then cannot contribute to the hospital. This causes Paroissien Hospital to lack the resources that San Isidro has, with the major cause being the surrounding area’s ability to pay taxes.