We finished our final day of exploring Argentina’s healthcare system with eye-opening tours of one public and one private hospital. We met with medical leaders and gathered information to finish our presentations on Argentina’s entire healthcare system.  

To begin the day, we went to Austral University to meet with Dr. Josefina Medrano who was the former Ministry of Health for the Salta province during the covid-19 pandemic. She shared with us information about the province itself as well as the issues she faced in her job position. She explained that the public hospitals of Salta were 30% short in the number of beds they needed during the pandemic. We also learned that due to Salta’s rugged terrain many inhabitants were unable to be reached by doctor quickly which led to a higher mortality rate of covid for the area. Dr. Medrano then explained how the ministry solved the issues they faced and how they bettered the public healthcare system in Salta.  

Then we visited Hospital Fernández, a public hospital in the Palermo section of Buenos Aires. We met with Dr. Previgliano, the former head of the hospital’s ICU department, who gave us a lecture and then led us on a tour of the facilities. Dr. Previgliano explained the history, present, and future of the hospital in terms of its challenges and the administrations strategies. We learned that the hospital had a severe excess of beds but has since cut down the number of beds from 850 to 323. Another major challenge that faces the hospital is the amount of people from outside of the municipality that travel to use the facilities who don’t contribute tax money to maintain the hospital’s resources. The hospital has also recently implemented non-invasive procedure strategies to save a whopping $1.9 million. We then toured the hospital quickly, which is always my favorite part of the visit! 

The final hospital we visited for this trip was the incredible Swiss Medical, a private hospital in the city of Buenos Aires. We were led on a quick tour of the pristine hospital, specifically visiting the ICU, an operating room, and their ER rooms. There was a drastic difference I noticed between the waiting rooms of Swiss Medical and Hospital Fernández, as the private hospital had a lot less people waiting to see a doctor. The facilities in this hospital looked more like comfy hotel rooms rather than a hospital, which is very unlike what we have seen at the public hospitals and even some of the private hospitals. Touring this hospital was a wonderful opportunity and having it be the last one we toured allowed us to fully compare it to the other ones. 

With the conclusion of our hospital visits and lectures, we have begun to compare the social gradient, in terms of healthcare between Argentina to the United States. Examining how factors like income and geography influence access to care and quality of treatment brings some similarities to the surface between the two countries. In both countries, living in a rural environment both decreases your accessibility to healthcare and the quality of care. We learned today about how residents of Salta had difficulty receiving care during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is very similar to how Americans in rural areas of the US also had problems with accessing healthcare. Meanwhile, private hospitals such as Swiss Medical offered state-of-the-art facilities and provide a higher level of care, but it is only accessible by those who can afford the high-priced premiums. In the U.S. specifically, low-income populations typically experience poorer health outcomes compared to individuals with private insurance or who live in wealthier areas. The disparities in the healthcare system and level of care mirror the social and economic divides for both Argentina and the United States which is fascinating to be able to compare now that we have spent a full week and a half delving deeply into Argentina’s healthcare system. 

Pro-Tip: Try the cheap empanadas from the small shop about two blocks from the hotel called Mr. Cook!! They were incredible both in their taste and price, with each empanada only costing about 900 Pesos less than a dollar!!