Day 5! Today we visited the public Matanza Hospital. This is the biggest county of Buenos Aires, with a dense population of approximately three million people. This is a similar population size compared to the city of Buenos Aires. The area has poverty, security, and low income issues. Unlike Buenos Aires, Matanza receives funding only from the providence, and no funding from the national or municipal level. The budget depends on the population they serve and the type of care in which the hospital provides. The public hospital of San Isidro has secondary care, unlike Matanza, and receives funding from the municipality. A major problem of Matanza is flooding due to underground rivers, which is not an issue that Buenos Aires faces. There was much construction, as the are working on the ICU to increase the number of beds to 20. In total, they have about 300 beds, as well as one physician per every eight patients. 

The hospital receives new instructions every day, and they must justify every expense. The director mentioned that it is very difficult to work with the province due to many complicated political issues. Matanza struggles with staffing doctors and nurses due to lack of money and low numbers of nurses. Right now, there are about 1,500 employees total working in the hospital, but it was mentioned that many nurses and doctors leave the hospital in Matanza to work in the private sector or go to the public hospital in the city of Buenos Aires. This gives them the chance to earn more money and create new opportunities for their futures. Some nursing personnel are also affected by illnesses while trying to cater to the needs of the people who are sick in the hospital. The hospital of Matanza is not the only hospital, but they are the most important hospital in la Matanza. 

Then, we took a bus to the Universidad Nacional La Matanza, where we got the opportunity to speak to some students and learn more about the university from professors. In total, there are 90 professors and 1030 students enrolled in the school. Similarly to the city of Buenos Aires, there is no tuition and all university schooling is free to the public. Nursing school is 5 years long and approximately 4448 hours of work. We explored the skills lab and clinical simulation, as well as heard about their internship and medical research opportunities.