In 2021, a revolutionary program began in the department that changed the way Magdalenians received medical assistance. Former governor Carlos Caicedo created a preventive medicine strategy that would reach each of the municipalities, townships and villages, overcoming the barriers that the old political class created so that the rural population was deprived of health care.
‘Medico en tu casa’, a program that the government of President Petro took as a reference to launch its own model from Aracataca in 2022 that is implemented throughout the country. In Magdalena, thanks to the fact that the Change Continues with Governor Rafael Martínez, ‘Médico en tu casa’ continues with the financial support of the Ministry of Health, receiving great praise from the WHO.
The Government of Magdalena demonstrates once again that Change is with Results, thanks to the execution of the ‘Medico en tu Casa’ program, initiated during the period of Carlos Caicedo and continued in the administration of Rafael Martínez with the financial support of the Ministry of Health, 115,235 people in each corner of the department in 2024 have had access to preventive health care.
During a meeting with the 33 managers of the Magdalena Hospital Network, it was reported that a total of 57,303 families were intervened by the program that is a national reference, of which 53,923 were women, 55,636 men, 2,662 people with disabilities and 918 mothers. pregnant women
The scope of this program obeys the foundations it received in the previous government, since, before 2020, the department’s health system was governed by corruption and clientelism, politicians who took advantage of public resources regardless of whether the communities urged Greater investment for more quality in service.
The hospitals were the petty cash of deputies, congressmen and mayors who, allied with the governments in power, looted the treasury. Thanks to Carlos Caicedo and now Rafael Martínez, those stories are in the past, hospitals are in constant evaluation, seeking to improve the quality and provision of service to the people.
As good news resulting from the implementation of ‘Medico en tu casa’, the flagship program of the Governments of Change, the departmental Health Secretary, Diana Celedón, explained that thanks to this program maternal mortality was reduced to 0, achieving a decrease of 100% of cases in the first half of 2024.
“We have excellent results and one of the indicators that has shown us the most important impact has been the reduction in cases of maternal mortality in week 22. We have been there for almost half a year and in the department of Magdalena no cases have been recorded, which shows the positive impact of the operation of these territorially focused teams in our department,” Celedón explained.
As ordered by Governor Martínez, the Departmental Government reaffirms its commitment to the program and highlights the intention to increase the number of families served and micro territories covered, with the objective of achieving total coverage of the population of Magdalena.
“The intention is for us to have greater coverage. It is a program where each year we increase the number of families and micro territories to achieve full coverage of the population of the department of Magdalena,” explained the secretary.
At the meeting, important initiatives of the Departmental Development Plan to improve hospital infrastructure were also discussed. These initiatives include improvements in health centers, first and second level hospitals, and the expansion of the offer of health services throughout the department.
