Dr. Jennifer Heyn next to a newborn who sleeps peacefully in one of the servocribs donated by PAHO to the Curuguaty District Hospital.
Saving lives in the territory
The Maracana 2do Encuadre family health unit was another beneficiary. Reaching the unit involves traveling 80 kilometers from Curuguaty, including via a red dirt road through the Mennonite community of Nueva Durango. Dr. Joel Franco arrived at 2do Encuadre eleven years ago when the unit was very basic. With time and the help of the community, it has been improved. Now, PAHO has donated equipment, including an electrocardiogram and a crash cart, which have made it possible to stabilize patients who suffer a heart attack locally before their transport to the Curuguaty district hospital, reducing the risk of death en route.
The Regional Health Directorate then hired more doctors, and the 2nd Encuadre health center began to operate 24 hours a day, including weekends, which increased the number of consultations from 400 to 1,500 per month, Franco says.
Twenty kilometers from the health unit of 2do Encuadre, Noemí González, a licensed nurse, attends patients at the Virgen de los Milagros Health Post, located in front of a school. "Previously, we had nothing, we couldn't even check blood pressure," she says. But thanks to donations, she now has chairs, shelves, a pediatric scale, a refrigerator, a blood pressure monitor and a minor surgery kit. This allows her to perform small wound dressings and sutures without the need to transfer patients to 2nd Encuadre.