Today we visited the municipality of La matanza in the Buenos Aires Province to visit the Paroissien Hospital. Here we toured both the inpatient and outpatient areas. We looked at the emergency department, the expansion to the ICU, the X-ray machines, and the morgue. The hospital was very busy and chaotic, most likely because it serves a population of 3 million which is about the same as the whole of Buenos Aires. Compared to the hospitals in the more wealthier areas like San Isidro, Paroissien is funded solely by the province rather than by both the province and municipal governments. This leads to a very prominent gap in funding which affects how and what the hospital uses to operate. Some of the equipment like the x-ray were modern however, the building itself was very old and overcrowded. There were exposed wires, mentions of previous flooding concerts, multiple beds in single rooms.

It was very obvious how hard it was for the hospital to maintain its facilities with its limited resources and funding. Additionally, because of the lack of primary care centers in the municipality, many of the patients rely on the hospital for both routine and more complex needs. This is what adds to the overcrowding. Many healthcare workers end up leaving to work at private hospitals because of the better pay, which forces the remaining employees to take on more responsibility. Later, we went to the Universidad Nacional de la Matanza, where we met nursing students and learned about their education system and clinical training. Although the campus was less modern than the private universities we have visited, the students were highly motivated and explained that graduates from La Matanza are respected within the healthcare system. 

Ultimately, today we were shown how on the outskirts of Buenos Aires the hospitals often struggle with fewer financial resources despite serving populations equal or greater to the city itself. While central Buenos Aires benefits from stronger infrastructure and investment, municipalities like la Matanza must work harder to provide healthcare and education with far less support. Additionally, it is much harder for the hospitals to maintain and grow with the additional loss of their employees to other much better paying hospitals.