Governor Sergio Uñac inaugurated the Spanish Center for the Management of Chronic Diseases (Cemec) and the Nuclear Medicine Service that has a positron emission tomograph (PET-CT), which will provide a solution to therapy for cancer and neurological patients.
The act was presided over by the first provincial president, accompanied by the lieutenant governor, Roberto Gattoni; the mayor of the Capital, Emilio Baistrocchi; the Ministers of Public Health, Alejandra Venerando; of Works and Public Services, Julio Ortiz Andino; by Cemec, the technical coordinator, Isidro Putelli and the medical director, Gustavo Ortiz, among others.
Until now, more than 60 people from San Juan had to travel weekly to other provinces to obtain diagnostic services, a situation that will be reversed as of the operation of the PET/CT center, which will allow patients to carry out their treatments without having to leave the province. .
The modern technology of the positron emission tomograph allows obtaining high-quality images to visualize the anatomy with great precision, analyzing biological processes at the molecular level and promoting the early detection of cancer and other diseases. The investment for the acquisition of this equipment was 1.5 million dollars.
It should be noted that the new nuclear medicine center is one of the results of the San Juan Agreement and its completion required a provincial investment of $350 million.
At the opening of the event, One C He stated that the State must be attentive to people who suffer from chronic diseases, that are difficult for the patient and his environment. Then, the procedure was referred to to achieve the turn for attention of the San Juan residents in the neighboring provinces, a situation that today will be resolved through the new health center.
Continuing with his words, the governor added that the regional development pole that constitutes Cemec will also receive patients from La Rioja, Catamarca and San Luis.
“The service that this place will provide to the people of San Juan is very important. I also want to ponder the inauguration of the expansion of the Marcial Quiroga Hospital, which had never been remodeled or expanded”.
“We sanjuaninos have to support the processes. We cannot obtain results without a prior process, with joys and sorrows. Processes that led us to the expansion of the productive matrix. And this is achieved when a team is formed, like that of the 800,000 San Juan residents who believe that there is much present and more to come,” concluded the governor and wished everyone a happy start to the year.
Posteriorly, Baistrocchi He spoke about the advances in paving, lighting and other infrastructure details achieved in the Capital department and the need to improve the health service, incorporating the new nuclear medicine center. He closed the speech by congratulating him on the achievement.
Then the minister Venerable He mentioned the “correct decision of the governor to recover the hospital, so that today we have this nuclear medicine center.”
Continuing, the official said that “after overcoming so many difficulties, the end of the year is auspicious with the opening of this nuclear medicine center that will improve the quality of life of many San Juan residents. Starting tomorrow, the first shifts will begin to take place so that the week can be fully operational.
The Medical Research Foundation will also operate on the property, a technological scientific pole that will work in coordination with SECITI and with the universities to train service workers.
“This is for the people of San Juan, because early diagnosis saves lives,” added the head of the health ministry and gave the Mujeres + Sanas Program as an example, which works through preventive diagnosis.
Posteriorly, Andean Ortiz He mentioned the recent inauguration of the Marcial Quiroga Hospital and valued the work carried out in the former Spanish Hospital with BIM methodology.
Regarding the hospitals, the minister pointed out that there are three works underway: the new San Roque Hospital, in Jáchal, Tomás Perón, in Rodeo and Aldo Cantoni, in Calingasta, while they are very advanced with the tender those of Angaco and San Martín, Los Berros and Caucete and those of Valle Fértil, Ullum and Zonda are in the preliminary project stage.
In addition, the head of Public Works and Services referred to the progress of housing policies in the province, where more than 5,000 homes are under construction, 2,000 delivered and soon there will be a lottery for homes and lots with services, a new methodology.
To close, the medical director of Cemec, ortiz, highlighted the professional capacity of the team in charge of the complex and highlighted Governor Uñac’s efforts to preserve the management of the Spanish Hospital and start the nuclear medicine center project. “We are going to provide medical assistance and also training and research. We will ensure, with the intervention of Public Health, equity in the treatment of all types of patients who come to the service, both mutualized and private”, the professional concluded by thanking the center.
Also present at the inauguration were the president of the Capital Deliberative Council, Ariel Palma; the Secretaries of State for Science, Technology and Innovation, Marita Benavente; Security and Public Order, Carlos Munisaga and Environment and Sustainable Development, Francisco Guevara; the technical secretaries, Juan Pacheco; from Planning, Alina Almazán and from Public Works and Services, Carlos Rollán Oro; the undersecretaries of Preventive Medicine, Matías Espejo; of Architecture, Oscar Montero; by Cemec, technical coordinator, Isidro Putelli; the head of Nuclear Medicine, Alfredo García and other authorities from the Health areas.
Health will have its technological scientific pole for oncological and neurological diseases
With the technology that today is put at the service of the people of San Juan, the province will become the main scientific and technological center of all of Cuyo.
The venture was consolidated in genetic, nuclear, oncological and neuroscientific matters, to provide a better quality of life to patients, in pursuit of excellence in health care.
In turn, the signing of agreements with the National Atomic Energy Commission and the School of Nuclear Medicine will allow the Province, through Cemec and the Nuclear Medicine Research Foundation, to train professionals in the area.
Details of the work
The Ministry of Public Works and Services, through the Undersecretary of Architecture, completed another important building with sanitary infrastructure that expands public health coverage in San Juan and the region. On this occasion, the Government of San Juan completed the works of the Spanish Center for the Management of Chronic Diseases (Cemec).
For the installation of the new PET-CT equipment on the Cemec premises, a new healthcare center was built, with large areas for its operation, complying with all safety and maximum efficiency requirements, in addition to the places established for professionals and administrative staff.
The work, located on the available land of the former Spanish Hospital, in Capital, has 868.80m2 of constructed area, responding to the needs raised by the Ministry of Public Health of the province.
The new building has a comfortable, double-height reception and waiting room. A dry square next to a recova that will serve as an expansion.
Likewise, it contemplates the spaces of offices, support and room for physicists and doctors. On the top floor, the administrative area is located.
In the most complex and specific sector of the infrastructure, the injection area, hot room, console, equipment, spaces that require special preparation from the radioprotection point of view, since radioactive material will be handled there, were planned. In this case, the construction characteristics were specific for this purpose.
The new Nuclear Medicine Center has a room where the specific equipment is housed with its respective console. The hot room has a counter, lining and furniture under the counter made of non-absorbent material and with a continuous surface (stainless steel).
It is worth mentioning that for this work, modeling with the BIM (Building Information Modeling) methodology was used by the company Bilbao Construcciones. This is an innovative work methodology in the construction industry, which allows, through virtual models and in a collaborative way, to manage construction projects in an integral manner in all its stages. Today the province is positioned as one of the pioneers in the use of this innovative methodology in public works.
The objective is to establish Cemec as a center for diagnosis, treatment and research in the area of oncology, as well as in the development of surgeries for epilepsy and Parkinson’s and in the genetic area, through a Personalized Precision Medicine program. . This means that, within oncological pathologies, specific treatments will be carried out according to the particularity of the patient and not the general condition, achieving greater specificity in diagnosis and treatment.
In addition, it has a reception for the doctor-patient interview, where the clinical history will be formalized, the pathology will be verified, the study, then, the body weight and the height of the person to finally determine the dose of radioactive material that will be applied to it. This material will be given in the “Injection”, which is a room, conditioned so that the patient receives the exact amount of “Radioactive Isotope”, whose technical name is fluorodeoxyglucose or FDG, whose transfer to the province is a rigorous logistical process, in reason of short radioactive stage, which makes the time variable a challenge to overcome, for the optimal use of this resource.