Today was packed with information about public systems in Argentina. We started our day off with a visit to Paroissien Hospital in La Matanza. This area is much more underfunded than San Isidro, which we visited a couple of days ago. Paroissien Hospital is a public hospital, fully funded by the province of Buenos Aires. Unlike San Isidro, this hospital receives no support from the municipality. 

We started the tour with a presentation from the hospital director. The director expressed his frustration with working with the province and was unable to answer simple questions about the hospital, alluding to the chaos and disorganization of the hospital as a whole. During the tour we saw their pediatric unit, ICU, imaging unit, and even the morgue. It was interesting to see how one public hospital could differ so much from another. It’s obvious that the lack of funding tremendously decreases the quality of care in hospitals. 

After touring the hospital we drove over to Universidad Nacional de La Matanza. This university is public and has a 5 year nursing plan. When we arrived we had empanadas with some of the students and staff. For the first time on this trip, we were also able to try authentic mate with some of the students! After lunch, we took a tour of their simulation lab which actually looked quite similar to the labs in the US. To end the visit we listened to a presentation from one of the professors at the university. He explained to us how their nursing program works, as well as explaining to us how the social security sector of healthcare operates. After spending so much time at these public hospitals and clinics, I’m excited to explore some more of the private options later this week.