Three simultaneous operations in the fire zones of Viña del Mar and at the Fricke Hospital allowed for surgical interventions, laser therapy and procedures.
Nearly 300 patients were treated this Saturday in a large ophthalmological operation carried out jointly by the Ophthalmological Society of Chile, the Medical College, the Association of Medical Technologists in Ophthalmology, the Viña del Mar Quillota Petorca Health Service and the Dr. Gustavo Hospital Fricke.
In detail, technologists and doctors went to the areas affected by the fires in the upper part of Viña to continue with the operations begun in February, while patients on the waiting list were scheduled at the Fricke Hospital to undergo a procedure. series of procedures.
As Dr. Ignacio Hernández, head of ophthalmology, explains, “we were able to serve many people in some services that we had not carried out in previous operations. We update eye funds for diabetic patients, we take advantage of giving some of them laser treatment. We were able to do intraocular lens cleaning, other laser procedures. In addition to surgeries in the ward, things that are a little more complex. Particularly in the tear duct and some eyelid disorders.”
The objective of this initiative is to bring specialist health care closer to the territories and speed up waiting times. In this regard, the director of the Viña del Mar Quillota Petorca Health Service, Andrea Quiero, stated that “what we have here today is a group of local professionals who have also come from afar to solve the problems of our people, to solve the problems of the waiting list of those who have also been affected by recent events and which also ended in a devastating fire in our territory. So we continue and continue moving forward in a constructive way, with a lot of love, with a lot of deployment of our talents and also our motivations, on a day in which this effort is put at the service of that respect and memory, because we are here to honor life.”
For her part, the president of the Medical College, Dr. Anamaría Arriagada, pointed out the importance of these operations, which on this occasion were part of the Viña del Mar 2024 General Assembly, the most important union body of COLMED. “It was a very positive balance for us. We see again our former president of the National Medical College, Dr. Meza, leading this effort together with authorities of the Service and the Hospital and the Society of Ophthalmology. We celebrate this and we are going to continue supporting this region that was so hard hit by the fires in February to resolve their waiting times, to resolve these health problems so that in some way this tragedy has the least possible impact on the network. and the quality of life of people.”
Surgical operations on the eyelid and tear duct, laser treatments for diabetic patients and other pathologies, as well as evaluations of patients with ocular fundus, which were also treated in the vineyard hills, are a significant contribution to reducing the waiting list. , according to what was reported by the director(s) of the Fricke Hospital, Juan Carlos Gac: “Well, this ophthalmological operation is very important for us. Surgical interventions, laser operations, help us reduce waiting times and also serve the population that was left vulnerable by the fires or megafires of Viña del Mar. We want to thank, in this case, the national Colmed, the Ophthalmological Society of Chile and also the Viña del Mar Quillota Petorca Health Service, which together with the Fricke Hospital and its ophthalmology service managed to set up this operation, reach the people, be on the ground, in the territories, and allows us, as “It said, reduce waiting times and contribute to public health.”
Don Pedro Verdejo, a connoisseur, was waiting for his eye examination. “He was waiting for a long time and, well, very well attended to, spectacular, very good. They even gave me other tests to continue monitoring my eyes, since I am diabetic and insulin dependent. Expeditious, easy, I loved it, very good. So for me it was no problem, quite the opposite.”
As vice president of the Chilean Association of Ophthalmology, Dr. Gonzalo Varas finally commented that “this is not the first time we have participated in these types of operations. For us, participating in operations is being able to give a little of our time, of our affection to people who, obviously, require specialized attention and timely attention. And although it is on Saturdays or sometimes Sundays, what matters is being able to contribute with a small grain of sand.”
