On our 3rd day in Argentina we started off with a fun boat ride on Río Capitán where we visited their primary care facility right off of the river. The clinic takes appointments, and has a pediatrician on site 24 hours. Along with the physical building, they have one singular boat ambulance that responds to emergencies on the river. Although they only have one ambulance, they also have a mobile clinic on a boat that visits people who do not have access to transportation for check ups. Because this clinic is public, it is primarily funded by the municipality of Tigre.
After touring the primary health clinic, we continued on the boat for a three course lunch at Vivanco Restaurant. We were given caprese salads to start, followed by a choice of steak, fish, or pasta, and ended the meal with ice cream. The weather was beautiful, so after lunch we walked down the street to finally exchange our USD for Argentina pesos!
Our second site visit was to Hospital de San Isidro. This hospital is also part of the public system. From the presentation we were given, we learned that the hospital is primarily funded by the municipality, but also gets support from the province because of the cross over of patients from neighboring municipalities. Because of the good reputation of San Isidro, many people from less fortunate areas make the trip to Hospital San Isidro, causing capacity and financial problems for San Isidro. This goes back to the original question of how do health departments weigh off funding and priority between primary health centers and hospitals? What I gathered is that hospitals are trying to invest more in preventive care because it’s more affordable and could actually help the capacity issues. When patients are being treated consistently with check ups and vaccinations, there is less need for hospitalization. What I have noticed so far in this trip is that even though Argentina is labeled as “free healthcare for all”, there are many more issues beneath the surface that affect the quality of care for their communities.