Race for health | Surgical marathons have doubled their prevalence in the governorate

Since the Ministry of Health of the Province of Buenos Aires has promoted the “Surgical thugs”a program that performs low-complexity operations in Buenos Aires hospitals during weekends, has enabled hundreds of residents to reach the solution to their ailments. During September, 151 people were operated on within twelve days in ten hospitals. At the end of next week, at the end of the month, the health portfolio will run a new marathon that will reach 240 surgical patients.

Alexia NavarroThe Deputy Minister of Health in the governorate speaks with Buenos Aire/12 He details that the scale of unmet demand means that this is “only the beginning” of a policy that is here to stay: “More and more hospitals are joining the initiative, not only in the capital Buenos Aires, but in the suburbs and from within the province as we move forward to provide answers to all outstanding cases.” Because we need to ensure access to surgeries.

One of the side effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVI-19) has been an increase in the waiting list for low-complexity surgeries, both in Buenos Aires province and in the rest of the country. As a result of the massive nature of the infection, health workers focused on resolving emergencies and postponing treatment for “minor” (but painful) illnesses from which thousands of Buenos Aires residents suffered. As time passed, the conditions worsened and the Buenos Aires health system searched for a solution.

next to Surgery network And the Governorate Hospitals Directoratethe minister Nicholas Kryplak She devised a proposal to increase interventions on Saturdays and Sundays, ensuring the availability of beds, operating rooms and regional staff outside normal working hours.

Since its inception, Surgical Marathon has performed 91 laparoscopic surgeries (hernia, hernia, gallstones), 35 contraceptive surgeries for women and men (tubal ligation and vasectomy), and 25 pediatric surgeries for various diseases and specialties. Regarding the ages of the operated patients, the average was 41 years in the adult population (16 and 72 years), while in the pediatric group (1 and 12 years) the average was 7 years. When selecting patients, Buenos Aires Hospitals formulate a questionnaire to prioritize. In this way, the authorities contact the patients by telephone, conduct preoperative studies and determine the date on which they will be operated on.

The name “surgical marathons” is not related to “competition” as it is in sports. As the health portfolio explains, this name is connected to the purpose “Challenge and resistance”Because intervention days are intensive and require the availability of beds, supplies and resources. For example, the Sor María Ludovica Hospital in La Plata operated on 25 boys and girls between Saturday the 23rd and Sunday the 24th.: Five trauma surgeries, six head and neck surgeries, three gastrointestinal endoscopies, five urology surgeries, four low-complexity abdominal surgeries, and two eye surgeries. The marathon required eight hospital services and more than 20 health professionals.

So far, 65 health professionals have participated, divided into: Hospitals of Sor María Ludovica of La Plata, Abraham Pinheiro of Junín, Narciso Lopez of Llanos, Gomez of Haído, Mariano and Luciano de la Vega of Moreno, Estela de Carloto de Moreno, Mercante de José C. Paz, Eva Peron of San Martin, Magdalena vs. De Martinez de Pacheco and Alberto Balestrini de la Matanza. “We sought to make full use of the operating rooms, to increase productivity and response to pending surgeries. Different hospitals were proposing services according to their demand, so we optimized economic resources to strengthen the intervention teams,” explains Navarro.

This policy has been well received in the hospitals and everyone has been available from the beginning, which also has its logic. Healthcare workers are tired of not being able to provide answers or solutions to their patients. Adriana Aljaz, CEO of Guemes de Haedo Hospital, located in the Moron district of Buenos Aires“Surgical marathons are positive for everyone,” he explains to this newspaper. The doctor in the office doesn’t like to see a patient twenty times telling him surgery is needed, and he also wants to give answers. “It’s very frustrating for professionals when it doesn’t happen, because if we have everything in our hands to do it, we should make it happen.”

The new edition of “Surgical Marathons” will take place next Saturday, September 30, at the Narciso Lopez de Lanos, Mercante de José C. Paz and Gomez de Haedo Hospitals.As this is not the first time it has been done to relieve the pressure of waiting in these effects. “We in the country have a role in ensuring equality and access to high-tech health treatments,” says Navarro, who works as a pediatrician in addition to his position in the Ministry of Health. “The Ministry, thanks to the initiative taken by this administration, increases access to the health system with resources.” Trained and specialized human beings.”