Why?
Journalist Gernardo Nuñez goes from one patient room to the next. I accompany the media representative who not only writes for the news, but also prepares programmes for a TV-channel in Lima.
“Why are you here?” – all the men and women in their beds give a similar answer: “Because we trust this hospital!” In his conversations it becomes clear that patients come from far and wide: within minutes we hear the names of half a dozen States.
Now we step through the waiting room and enter a doctor’s room. The patient sitting on the chair lives in Cusco and has been to many hospitals in the State. But none of them put an end to his story of suffering. “I will receive help in this missionary hospital,” he tells the journalist, “I am sure of that!”
The visit of the press representative has aspect to it. In many Peruvian clinics those seeking help are told: “Come back in six months, during the pandemic we cannot do anything for you!”
Tragically this statement is just an excuse. The doctors are hard-working without a doubt. Not in the state institutions, but in definitely in the private clinics: it is there where the bucks are made. /KDJ
