Department of Health of Neuquén County

After two face-to-face sessions to rethink and assess the work done during the pandemic, a common agenda was established between the public and private health sectors to advance specific goals in the short and medium term.

Neuquén’s first meeting on health policy this afternoon culminated in the handing out of plaques in appreciation of the care and commitment of workers across the various actors to the Neuquen County Health System during the outbreak. During the day, in addition, authorities and auditors from the public and private sectors discussed COVID-19 vaccination, telemedicine, computer systems interoperability, individual digital health history (HUDS), integration and training of county human resources, among others. . . They also developed a common work agenda to address specific goals and challenges in the short and medium term.

Regarding the meeting, the Minister of Health, Andrea Biffi, stressed that “this meeting was very profitable. We created a space that was clearly needed, we needed it, we came together in the most dangerous moment of the epidemic. We knew that through this joint effort we could continue in delving into other issues. Institutions are the creation of the people and we owe it to ourselves to them. There can be no public policy to advance if we do not set our eyes on the workers, their training and their working conditions.”

In this sense, Bev emphasized that this meeting implied that all the people from the leadership of the entire health system came together. We share from the Ministry and all the provincial directors with the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, the Heads of the District, the Administrator and Deputy Medical Director of the Neuquén Institute for Social Security (ISSN). He explained that the directors of the 30 hospitals in the governorate and the private sub-sector are also medical directors and clinic owners.

The head of the health file also noted that during these two meetings a balance was achieved “for everything that succeeded in the most intense moments of the COVID-19 wave of this epidemic that is not over yet.” Regarding the epidemic, Biff said: “He has suggested to us new challenges, many issues to work on, both urgent and important. In this case, what has been suggested as the agenda is to start work on the surgical network of the entire Neuquen District and respond to the needs of Neuquen and Neuquen.”

He also highlighted the importance of working on medium-term policies to train human talent, which is absolutely necessary for the entire health system. “For us it is very important, it is the heart of our health system. The idea that has emerged is to work from both the public and private sectors to implement policies to train human resources and improve working conditions,” the health minister said.

During the meetings held, the various auditors valued the work of the Family Coordination Center (CCC) and the quality of professionals working in this sector. In this sense, it is worth noting that from March 2020 to the present, the CCC has referred/intervened a total of 7,100 persons with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.

On this point, Alejandra Oliva, Medical Director of the Image Clinic, said: “Having a common vision from all sectors helped us solve problems more efficiently and effectively. The Neuquen County Health System implemented a health policy that we rarely see, and this detailed work has not been seen in many of places, and I have had the opportunity to share with other managers from other counties the experience the pandemic has left us and the fact is that very few of them have worked this way. And this has been achieved in a very flexible way, thanks to the Family Coordination Centre, without this working tool it would have been much more difficult for us “.

On the other hand, the reviewers highlighted the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the governorate, and the progress made in it, and agreed on the importance of continuing to manage and work in an integrative manner between the two sectors. They also discussed current and future challenges.

In the latter case, conversations focused on human resource integration and training, systems interoperability, life cycle assessment law, mental health, protection and confidentiality of people’s information, primary health care and various health care quality.