One of the most important institutions of urban life today is one that deals with the health of the most vulnerable. The public hospital is home to health care and treatment for people who cannot count on a paid or private service.
In many countries, such as Argentina, for example, public hospitals are home to the most serious and best-prepared professionals, even more than in the private sector. This is due to the medical tradition that exists in the country.
When and why does the public hospital arise? A reference that is not timeless
To better understand the importance and value that the public hospital fulfills in today’s societies, we must point out that it has not always existed. In this sense, its appearance is directly related to the phenomenon of cities and urban growth since the late eighteenth century. The Industrial Revolution and the population increase in cities around the world also caused diseases, lack of hygiene, deaths and the spread of diseases of all kinds to grow.
The quality of life was not good and along with the hospitals there are also other concepts closely related to the responsibility of the State: public hygiene, lighting, and the sweep or collection of garbage. Public hospitals were then created as centers from which to provide health care to the population as a whole. Here it is important to keep in mind that until then the only ones that had health care were the powerful sectors that could pay for it.
The relevance of an institution that despite everything still stands
Despite the fact that in the world in general phenomena such as health and education have been largely privatized, there are still places where public care is provided for those sectors of the population that cannot access this right. Thus, public hospitals administer a balanced level of health for all those who cannot pay for social work or prepaid health, who do not have a job, a family to support them or even resources.
In addition to attending all specialties, research and constant preparation are encouraged , which is why they are often the place from which new techniques, medical discoveries or modernizations to different areas come out.
The main problem of these spaces may have to do with the lack of resources, with the lack of maintenance and with the abundance of people who need to be treated, which slows down and worsens overall care. However, they are spaces of constant help and attention for those who need it most.
