Argentina

Hospital Publico Materno Infantil, Salta

Eva Perón Centro Provincial Salud Infantil, Santiago del Estero

Program focus: Emergent high-acuity care, clinical consults

WTI serves children in Santiago del Estero and Salta, Argentina by enabling specialized, emergent critical care at two pediatric hospitals in the mountainous northern region of the country. Many children in the ICU urgently need to see specialists that are not available locally. They are often critically ill and unable to travel to a larger city to receive the care they need, either due to their medical condition or the expenses associated with traveling.

Our program offers patients in critical condition access to any specialist they may need, when they need them, without traveling a single mile. Using telehealth to provide philanthropic healthcare for emergent, high-acuity cases is unique to WTI. Through our program, specialists from Garrahan Pediatric Hospital in Buenos Aires provide specialty care to children in the ICU in Santiago del Estero and Salta.

The remote specialists from Garrahan support local providers with complex emergency cases to diagnose patients in critical condition, quickly develop a care plan, and guide complicated surgical procedures. Garrahan has developed a close relationship with both northern hospitals, who reach out frequently for support from their specialists using the telehealth device. The rapport developed between Garrahan and our program sites highlights the sustainability of our programs, built through long-term partnerships and capacity building.