Day 6 was packed with many visits. We started the day off with a bus ride to Sanatorio Mater Dei, a private hospital located in Palermo. They are nonprofit and receive their funds by insurance companies and fundraising. This hospital has all specialties and performs 60-70 surgeries a day. We were able to have a quick presentation with staff, as well as a tour. After touring the main hospital, we walked down the road to their outpatient clinic. The clinic was very modern and looked the most similar to healthcare clinics in the United States.
Our second stop was another hospital called Hospital Fernandez. This hospital is public and funded by the municipality. In my opinion, this was by far the nicest public hospital that we’ve seen on this trip. The hospital is known for its high level physicians and its wide selection of specialties. The hallways and rooms were much more organized and clean compared to other hospitals we have seen. When we entered their ICU, I noticed that they had separate rooms for each patient which has not been common among public hospitals. Throughout this trip, I have noticed that there is a wide spectrum of quality in the public sector. Although the hospital seemed fine on the inside, they still struggle with many problems in the public sector such as being understaffed and a lacking funds.
Before our third stop we had free time to walk around and explore Palermo. We stopped to get a sweet treat and landed at a place called Cremolatti. They had so many flavors of gelato to choose from. Since our Spanish isn’t very good, we accidentally ordered quarts instead of smalls. Whoops. Palermo was beautiful to walk around and we had perfect weather to go with it.
Our final stop was to a private clinic called Clínica Bazterrica. This clinic was the most upscale place we have been to. They offer a variety of services and the patient rooms are very spacious.
Stay tuned to hear about our cultural day in Recoleta tomorrow!