In Argentina, gaps in income negatively impact how healthcare is delivered. Individuals with higher incomes tend to receive better quality care, while individuals with lower income review lower quality care. Today in Argentina, we traveled to the Tomas Reggio Health Center, which is a public health clinic. This clinic is funded by the municipalities and by the community through donations. This clinic offers free healthcare for many individuals, and they provide check ups for children that include measurements and ear cleanings. The Sisters there schedule all appointments while also providing care to patients. They run every part of the clinic. Although the healthcare is free, the clinic is not running at its full potential. They lack the necessary resources to provide efficient care to patients due to low funding. The center did not have much technology, and they had thousands of paper medical records on shelves, which seemed very inefficient. This lower quality care is one of the main causes of healthcare inequality since individuals with lower income tend to come here.
Right next door to the clinic was the Santa Marta Children’s Home. After touring and learning about the clinic, we walked over to the home and spent time with the children before they left for school. This experience allowed us to relax and enjoy the environment of Argentina.
Following that, we traveled to Austral University to reflect on our experiences at the clinic. We enjoyed empanadas and flan with some of the students who attended the University. We also went to the Hospital Universidad Austral and attended 2 lectures about private hospitals and insurance, and we even got a tour of the building. This hospital had better technological advancements than the public clinic, which allowed for a more organized system. This higher quality system is normally used by people with higher incomes, which contributes to the healthcare gap
Although income and the divide between public and private systems heavily impacts care, both systems still share one major flaw. Nurses in Argentina are not paid fairly, even with all of their hard work. Public sectors are fully run by volunteers who do not get paid at all, while nurses in private sectors get paid very little. Overall, today was a busy day, but I’m excited to continue learning over the next 2 weeks!
