In the public hospital network there are 12 tomographs to serve the population, and two are decomposedaccording to information from the Ministry of Health. At the national level there are 46 hospitals, so 34 do not have that team.
The operating devices are in the Roosevelt (Capital) hospitals, Pedro de Bethancourt (Antigua Guatemala), National of Chimaltenango, Departmental of Totonicapán, Regional of the West (Quetzaltenango), National of San Marcos, Regional de Huehuetenango, San Benito (Petén), Regional of Zacapa and National Specialties of Surgical Specialties of Villa Nueva.
Meanwhile, at the Regional Hospital of El Quiché and General San Juan de Dios, the tomographs were damaged.
Gabriela Alexandra Batz Garzona, Secretary of Executive Directorate of the Regional Hospital of El Quiché, indicated that the team failed on January 11 of this year and that make efforts for repair.
On average, 150 patients require this type of studies monthly, which are complementary to reach a diagnosis. It is the Department of Social Work that in charge of coordinating the tomographs in private services, to continue attending the population.
In the case of the General San Juan de Dios Hospital, the team donated by the Government of Japan stopped working three weeks ago, due to lack of maintenance. Repair has a cost of Q696 thousand And it could take several weeks.
For now, the authorities reported that they have the support of the Roosevelt hospitals, from Villa Nueva and Nacional de Chimaltenango to conduct studies to patients who require it. In addition, the service of a private diagnostic center was hired by Q89 thousand 880.
Another option is the Tomograph lease with option to purchasesaid María Alejandra Mejía Estrada, financial administrative manager of the General Hospital.
Carlos Emilio Vásquez Jurado, defender of the health of the Attorney General’s Office, said that, since the complaint about the failure of the team was made public, they have verified that the patients are referred to other hospitals. This week they were sent to a private clinic, and the cost is borne by the hospital.
The doctor Napoleón Méndez, head of the Surgery Section of the Adult Emergency Department of the General Hospital, said that it is essential to perform the tomographies within the health center to establish diagnoses and be able to intervene patients on time.
“We are one of the largest hospitals in the country, which receives an incredible flow of patients and we will continue to attend, but, please, we need tools, we cannot be doing medicine with patches. We need the minimum resources, and the minimum is a tomographer running inside the hospital,” Méndez said.
Vital to diagnose
The Huehuetenango Regional Hospital “Dr. Jorge Vides Molina” is one of the national hospital that has a tomograph, and performs an average of 650 studies per month.
The director, Jorge Vinicio Martínez, indicated that the team is leased and that the contract won at the end of January. A new lease process began; Meanwhile, to carry out the studies, the services of a private diagnostic center were used.
Referent cases of the hospital of the Bars and San Pedro Necta; They also serve patients transferred from USPantán and Nebaj.
Martínez stressed that having a tomograph in national hospitals is fundamental, since it is a key diagnostic tool for any medical specialty. Nevertheless, warned that there are not enough radiologists in the country To interpret the studies, and that many of them prefer to work in the private sector.
On the other hand, due to equipment sensitivity, a stable electric power service is required, which is not guaranteed in the departments. In addition, the amount of studies that are carried out in each hospital should be evaluated, since, if the demand is low, it is more profitable to hire the external service.
At the discretion of the doctor Hugo Icú, of the Association of Community Health Services (ASECSA), the ideal is that all national hospitals have the necessary equipment to make diagnoses. However, like any other device, equipment or input in public health services, there must be effective administrative management from the purchase to the use and maintenance. “This device would support the resolution of many health problems at the departmental and regional level,” he said, to avoid the transfer of patients to the capital.
At that point, Méndez mentioned that, when a team like the tomograph fails in any public network hospital, the problem has a domino effect in the other welfare centers.
“The problem in the tomograph is an example of the chaotic system. Something fails in the San Juan de Dios and is recharged in the Roosevelt, in Villa Nueva and in all the attention. Here we stay collapsed all the time, and any link of the chain that is broken will have a negative effect over the entire health system, and who suffers is the population.”
Napoleón Méndez, Head of Surgery of the Adult Emergency Department of the General Hospital
He warned that relying on other care centers and subcontracting the external tomographic service are palliative measures, and that this must be an opportunity for the system not to be reactive, but acquire more equipment. “You have to study how many tomographs are needed in hospitals and buy them,” he said.
Regarding the acquisition of tomographs, the Ministry of Health indicated that it depends on the economic resources that each executing unit – hospital.