Today we talked with the previous minister of health of the province of Salta, Dra. Josefina Medrano. Salta is a northern mining province. It is a relatively poor province, meaning it does not have enough funds for proper public hospitals. Dra. Medrano was the minister of health during the COVID 19 pandemic, so she had to make emergency measures in order to save lives. She talked about the logistics of funding in a poor province and how she attempted to manage the situation.

We also toured Fernandez Public Hospital and Los Arcos Private Hospital. We toured the ICUs and other facilities in the hospitals, even looking in on an operation in Los Arcos. Los Arcos is a private, very rich, hospital owned by Swiss Medical, a very large private insurance company. Both of these hospitals were very nice and sanitary, showing that public hospitals can compete with private ones even without the same funds. A common problem shared amongst all of the hospitals we have visited on this trip is not enough bed space, in fact that may be the only real issue Los Arcos faces.

In healthcare, social gradient refers to the difference in overall care received between the rich and poorer individuals. This is present within both the United States and Argentina, however, the United States is more obvious. Since almost all of the healthcare system in the United States is private, only those who can afford healthcare will be able to take advantage of the incredible medical technology in the country. In this system, the very rich are able to get treatment without wait times. In Argentina, there is still a social gradient, but it is less pronounced. Because people have access to the public system, there is a way for people to get treatment for cheap, but there is very long waiting times. The rich do not have to wait as long through the use of private hospitals, meaning they have a higher likelihood of getting treatment quickly. Additionally, private hospitals tend to also have more funds to hire better doctors and obtain better equipment. Overall, the social gradient is similar to the United States, but it is less pronounced due to the public system’s existence.