03/16/2021 17:17
Clarín.com
Cities
Updated 03/16/2021 5:58 PM
Burdened with confusion, anguish and uncertainty, dozens of patients and members of
PAMI
came to the main door of
the Spanish Hospital
throughout the morning
.
Some because they had assigned shifts, or scheduled for the next few days;
others because they have relatives interned there.
All looking for information and certainties.
A red and white sash warned that
the hospital had been closed for various irregularities.
And after a morning of fights and confusion, during the afternoon it was learned that, after a meeting between
PAMI and the Government Control Agency, it
was agreed that, if a
work plan
is presented
to resolve the objected points
, a
preventive lifting of the closure.
The Government Control Agency (AGC) concluded that
"70% of the building was not in a condition to function."
With this radical evaluation, this control entity of the City closed the hospital and forced PAMI to make
emergency
referrals
to attend to its members.
According to the authorities of the social work,
71 thousand people of legal age
are cared for in the place
.
It is also the largest referral center for COVID patients in the City, said Luana Volnovich, president of PAMI.
He explained that in these hours 26 surgeries, 680 shifts, the care of 93 cancer patients and 8 who had to undergo chemotherapy treatments were scheduled.
In this context, the PAMI reported that all spontaneous consultations by guard will be
referred to the Milstein Hospital
, a former French hospital, located a few blocks from the Spanish, in La Rioja 951. "While life-threatening surgeries are scheduled,
will be carried out in the hospital.
The shifts of outpatient clinics and the radiotherapy service for cancer patients were rescheduled. And in the next few hours the members and affiliates will be contacted through the telephone service to
schedule new shifts, "
reported spokespersons of the social work.
The head of PAMI, Luana Volnovich, at the door of the Spanish Hospital, which was closed by the Buenos Aires government and sparked a political fight.
Photo: Guillermo Rodríguez Adami
As for the people who are admitted to the hospital, from the PAMI they clarified that
they will not be transferred:
"A very specific logistics is needed, a protocol that is also traversed by the pandemic. Family members have to be informed and also authorize it", reported.
The Spanish Hospital has been in the midst of a deep economic conflict and has been in great disrepair for decades.
On this occasion, the AGC encountered an unviable establishment at the
infrastructure level.
According to reports from the entity,
there were no emergency lights in the means of exit
;
there was no registration or maintenance of the fire facilities;
they found electrical installations with
exposed and melted wires
;
lack of maintenance (and maintenance record) in 12 elevators, forklifts and water heaters;
They found 3 tanks of 25 liters of diesel in the basement.
And they concluded that 70% of the building - with 11 floors and 2 basements -
"is not in a condition to function."
It is also intervened by the Justice.
As Volnovich said, PAMI "is co-administrator of the hospital and works permanently in conjunction with the trustee" in charge.
From the social work they questioned the closure, not the failures detected in the inspection: "The notice is perfect because it is what an inspection department has to do. That helps us, it is they (the AGC) who in theory should use their knowledge to
guarantee people's safety
, "the official told the media.
Confusion among PAMI affiliates due to the closure of the Spanish Hospital, which was closed after an inspection by the Buenos Aires government.
Photo: Guillermo Rodríguez Adami
The hospital building
belongs to the Spanish Mutual Aid Association,
which opened it
on December 8, 1877.
But medical care is in the hands of PAMI.
In fact, the members of the Spanish Hospital that until December 2019 had preferential care to keep their family doctors and specialists, stopped having this benefit and were left without medical coverage.
For this reason, as
Clarín
learned
, there were life partners who, to keep their usual doctors, made a
change of address
from Province to Capital to attend as PAMI affiliates.
Many of them were noted down by their parents, Spanish immigrants, when they were born.
And they were never erased.
Until the hospital fell into crisis, it accumulated debt and ended up being managed by PAMI.
Dolores González is 82 years old and has always spoken in Spanish, because she has been a member since she was born.
"I have a shift for Wednesday, I called to confirm and
they told me that they do not attend today and tomorrow
, but to call early Wednesday to see if the hospital works," he told
Clarín
.
And he added: "I was unable to attend to this transfer for a year. I came back last year as a PAMI affiliate and I found it better, cleaner and tidier. And when they order me, I appear as a former partner, so I have my whole story. clinic and my usual doctors there. "
The hospital was born as "Spanish Chamber of Commerce and Welfare Asylum" in 1852. It was the first Spanish group to settle in the country and which welcomed
the enormous migration that arrived from Spain
;
a migratory wave that was accentuated in the late 1800s and early 1900s. During those years, the immigrant communities also founded other hospitals, such as the Italian, the German and the British.
With different complexities, they came out ahead.
All three offer their own health plans.
There were others who were shipwrecked, such as the Portuguese and Israelite communities.
While that of the French, like the Spanish, was also absorbed by PAMI.
SC
Look also
More tension between the Nation and the City: they closed the Spanish Hospital and there was crossfire between Larreta and Volnovich
One by one, the reasons why the Spanish Hospital was closed
