The idea of the modern hospital, that is, a therapeutic enclosure, is quite recent in the history of mankind. The conception of the modern hospital emerged at the end of the eighteenth century, when, as Foucault pointed out, awareness began to be created that the hospital can and should be an instrument destined to cure the sick (Foucault, XX). Before and for many centuries, the hospital was a place to go to die.
The reading of the report on the Padre Hurtado Hospital from the narration of the experiences of the people who work there, makes us think of that “going to die” in another sense, not the one that historically had until the eighteenth century. Working or being hospitalized in the hospital can be a risk to the life or integrity of people, not exactly because of the greater contact with people carrying a transmissible virus or bacteria. The hospital can also be the target of criminal attack and targeted by criminal gangs.
The gravity of the situation that is being experienced in that hospital compound makes, of course, the question of how under such unsafe conditions and operating structures, the hospital can fulfill its functions and objectives. It clearly does not have sufficiently safe operating conditions and structures.
The hospital has to be a protected and protective place, therapeutic and not of death or risk to the integrity of the people who work there and the community that is cared for in it.
For the Padre Hurtado hospital, as well as for any other health, education or other public institution that is currently operating in conditions of high insecurity and risk of attacks; Urgent measures are required, with action by all actors involved.
It could be argued that the erection of a wall is a necessary protective measure, albeit with high symbolic and segregation costs. The protection of the physical structure is important, although it is necessary to consider that it also divides and separates the establishment from the community it seeks to serve, which could even enhance disrespectful and illegal actions or attempts in and towards the enclosure.
The community that inhabits the territory that is under the care of the Padre Hurtado Hospital has to be convinced – and act accordingly – that the hospital is an enclosure that cannot be attacked, as well as, and above all, neither the people who work there. In the context of what has been called the recovery of public spaces for the community, the challenge is to ensure that the hospital and the people who work in it, recover the place of respect they have always had.
This requires an effort from different perspectives. On the one hand, awareness-raising, educational and community outreach campaigns; These are measures that can help. On the other hand, there are other urgent measures that also require action by the State and the government, with the primary action of the Ministries of Health and Finance. Work under stress and risky safety conditions should be financially compensated and the increased risks involved insured. Longer windows of rest, reinforced mental health support for hospital staff, as well as the community, should be implemented as well.
The case of the Padre Hurtado Hospital should make visible the existence of other cases like this, and promote action in any other health, education or other public function facility that is currently operating in conditions of high insecurity and risk of attacks.
As a society we need to break the climate of insecurity, end the territories abandoned by the State and ensure guaranteed public health policies and services for all; independent of the territory in which it is located. The imposition of structural changes in the context of a dictatorial regime that generated the foundations of inequitable health in every way, an increasingly impoverished education, undignified and individualized pensions, and social segregation in the territory, of our regions and provinces, has led us to lose social cohesion, that kind of glue that makes us have empathy. solidarity, we care about building in community and collaboratively, we want to live together respecting the others and our laws and social agreements. The individual logic is the prevailing one.
In that regard, it is valuable to improve trust in and respect for the police institution. As well as the changes, we hope that they have begun to be implemented in the police institution after the cases of corruption that occurred in XX. Without police, without an institution that depends on the State and is publicly financed, not corrupt or corrupt, acting with respect for human rights, and protecting citizens, well trained and equipped, it is not possible to build the secure bases and dialogue that we require to carry out the change that we urgently need for the good of our entire society.
A hospital, as well as any health facility, has to fulfill its therapeutic function, regardless of where it is located. That is a right that should be ensured by the State and be cared for by all of us. The action of all is fundamental, the State, the private, the organized community.
Life well lived, as Butler pointed out recently, is one in which we take care of one another. That is a healthy society.
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The content of this opinion column is the sole responsibility of its author, and does not necessarily reflect the editorial line or position of El Mostrador.
