This Saturday followingnoon, the new building of the Palermo neighborhood Health Center, built by the Municipality, was officially inaugurated. Mayor Miguel Lunghi highlighted the importance of the work and the impact it will have in that area of the city.
The new building is located on the corner of Las Malvinas and Casacuberta and was planned according to the operational needs of the center. It has a single floor, with an access hall and two well-differentiated sectors. One has an office, administration, changing rooms and restrooms for staff and storage. In the other are the offices of the different specialties, the waiting room and the group of toilets.
The work required an investment close to 20 million pesos and was financed through the Municipal Fund for Infrastructure Agreements promoted by the Provincial Government, and contributions made by the Municipality.
The opening day began shortly following 3:00 p.m. with recreational activities for the whole family, enjoyed by the neighbors who came to be part of the party. Then the protocol act was carried out, led by Mayor Miguel Lunghi, the President of the Integrated Public Health System, Matías Tringler, the Vice President Luciano Grasso, the Associate Director of the VIII Sanitary Region, Martina Iparraguirre, the Director of Community Health of the Municipality Tomás Baliña, and the President of the Development Society of the Palermo neighborhood, Osvaldo Rosso.
The Chief of Staff, Oscar Teruggi, the President of the Honorable Deliberative Council, Juan Pablo Frolik, officials of the local Executive, councilors, health authorities and representatives of institutions in the area also participated.
In his speech, Mayor Miguel Lunghi reviewed some of the actions and projects carried out in previous years and the “great” advances and achievements that were achieved. “Thanks to the joint work of the Municipality, other levels of the State and the community, and with the efforts of all the neighbors, Palermo has grown enormously and in 20 years we have achieved a historic transformation, in the same way as in the rest of the neighborhoods that are north of Route 226,” he said.
“The extension of the service networks, the development of road, social, educational, cultural, sports and health infrastructure, are some of the results of that work that we carry out together with the neighbors, because as I always say, nobody can do anything only. This health center is another fundamental step in the development of the Palermo neighborhood and allows us to strengthen this service center that already has the Civic Center, the Civil Registry, the House of History and Culture of the Bicentennial and that in time will have the Child Development Center that we are building a few meters from here, ”he added.
At the same time, he assured that “all these achievements in these neighborhoods are part of a process in which we will continue working to consolidate the development, integration and construction of a more egalitarian city with a better quality of life for all residents. Much remains to be done and that is why we are working to convert Muñiz Street into an avenue, as established in the urbanization plan and which will surely be another great step for the entire area”.
The importance of Health Centers
For his part, the vice president of the Integrated Public Health System, Luciano Grasso, highlighted the importance of Health Centers in the neighborhoods and stated that “the health system has a main objective, that the community be healthy or as healthy as possible and Health Centers are the main actors to achieve this goal. Because they do health promotion and disease prevention tasks, advising them and proposing that each one take care of their health, that they have healthy habits”.
“Health grows from the foot, but it also branches out from below, it has to circulate through the neighborhood. It is not only inside here, it passes through the institutions, through the plaza you inhabit, through the businesses you visit, through your homes, in the social relationships that you build day by day. That’s where health also has to circulate, and that’s where the team from the health center also goes, although it sounds strange, trying to prevent them from having to come to the health center. But when they need some particular attention, there has to be a nice and cozy place to receive them. In this center they will be able to find health care, medical, psychological, nursing care, dentistry, social work and they will receive medication. But they will find the most important thing. The most important act of health: the desire, the passion and the vocation to take care of them. And that sometimes is a smile, a listening, accompany. It is an act of love, because an act of health is an act of love, “she completed.
Job sharing
In his turn, the President of the Development Society of the Palermo neighborhood, Osvaldo Rosso, expressed his “satisfaction” for the inauguration of the new building and reviewed the path traveled since April 12, 1997 when they formed the institution with the objective to negotiate with the authorities for improvements to the neighborhood, which was “far away” from many of the essential services.
This review included the generation of the first aid room and the transformation process towards the health center. “With the passage of time and the growth of the neighborhood, the physical space of the health center became too small and made it difficult to carry out tasks, and we no longer had space to continue expanding. At that time, the mayor echoed the request of professionals and neighbors and decided to build this new building that is being inaugurated today, “he explained.
“As members of the Sociedad de Fomento and neighbors we have mixed feelings, the place of reference that we had in the neighborhood with the small room located in Argerich 968, moves to a new building following 22 years of working in our house. On the other hand, we have the immense joy of knowing that we are going to have a first-class health center, with all the comforts for those who work and for the neighbors who need to come. The professionals deserve it and the neighbors deserve it”, he indicated.
Finally, he thanked all the members of the board of directors of the development society who “decided to contribute our grain of sand by adding efforts, will and work. Not to sit idly by and try to change something regarding ourselves and improve our quality of life”.
He also thanked all the people who carried out tasks in the small room and the health center and the management of Mayor Lunghi, who is always willing to listen and attend to the needs of the neighborhood. “I remember that in our first conversation he told me we are going to transform the Palermo neighborhood but he doesn’t have to help me because one alone can’t. Seeing the fruit of what has been done to date, those words indicate that the path to follow is that way, working together for the good of all”, he concluded.
After the speeches, there was a tour of the new building of the Health Center and the great closing was with a live show by the local group “It can be good”.
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