Day 6! First, we visited Santatorio Mater Dei, a private hospital in the neighborhood of Palermo. This nonprofit was created in 1975 in a privileged location by the Schoenstatt Sister of Mary Community. They are Confessional Catholic, and there are Sisters that live next to the hospital and work there. This private hospital does not do organ transplants. They have 14 adult ICU beds, 7 pediatric ICU beds, and 8 operating room beds with 60-70 surgeries per day. There are also about 170-221 births per month, and they have a goal of increasing the number of natural births compared to C-section births. This is contrary to their economic interest, as C-sections generate more profit for the hospital, but their main focus is on quality of care and kindness rather than a large room size or profit. In fact, this hospital is rated #1 in Buenos Aires. Standards are created by the Joint Commission (IATES) and All-State is their largest private insurance company. Donations play a role in their funding.
Then, we headed over to Hospital Fernandez, a public hospital founded in 1904 and refurbished in 1990. Every patient who comes will have unrestricted, free access to healthcare. This simply means that public hospitals, unlike the private hospital above, provide care regardless of insurance status or residency. Fernandez serves local, regional, and vulnerable populations, and they have integrated with community healthcare centers (CeSACs). They have very well-known and specialized surgeons, as well as one of the most important toxicology centers in Latin America. There is one interventionist per seven ICU beds. They are funded by municipalities, unlike private hospitals, but they are also funded by money donated to the Fernandez Foundation.
After getting lunch and gelato, we made our last stop to the Clinica Basterica, a private clinic built in 1940. They are a surgical clinic, but do not provide transplants or oncology treatments, unlike the public hospitals. Tyra had 22 pediatric ICU beds and they mentioned that Omint is their top prepaga.
In short, the public system is funded by the province or municipality and is free to everyone, while insurance is needed in order to utilize the private sector hospitals, they are funded by donations and payments made for their services, and most have religious affiliations.
