Making medical care more accessible

In 2005, the government built a new hospital in town of Negresti. Unfortunately, in 2011, the modern and well-equipped medical facility was closed, along with 66 other medical units across Romania, to save money. When the local hospital was closed the nearest medical facility for the 50,000 residents of Negresti was the Vaslui Hospital located 35 km away. 

As is often the case, those who were most affected by the closure of the hospital were the inhabitants of the rural communities. “My biggest concern is that if one day, I am sick, I won’t have the opportunity to go straight to the hospital,” said Lucia Prisecariu, a student at Mihai David School in Negresti and active member of the school’s children’s council.  “I would have to go to Vaslui.  If it is winter, and the roads are blocked by snow, I might not get there fast enough. My main concern would be that I would arrive in terrible condition or maybe I would not arrive there at all,” she added.

Lucia is well aware of the importance of accessible health care. Her mother, a nurse at the Vaslui town hospital, witnessed the tragic and preventable death of a baby during the winter of 2011 when a woman who was in labour was not able to reach the hospital fast enough. If the Negresti hospital would have been open, it would only have been a 10 minute drive. The mother survived, the baby did not.  

Six months after they began advocating, the voices of Lucia and her peers, has been heard. Mihai Doinița, the newly-installed school principal, has taken matters into her own hands. Through the voices of the children, she realized that with the hospital closed health care needed to be provided some other way so she set up a medical unit inside the school. 

“The majority of the children come from very poor families,” said Mrs. Dointa.  “Parents do not know how to provide their children with a healthy environment; many children suffer from malnutrition, others have lice. And, it is not uncommon to have cases of children who are anaemic or an epileptic. We needed a medical unit that could serve our 804 students on a regular basis,” she said. 

In partnership with the local entities, Mrs. Mihai Doinița submitted a request to the Local Council of Negreşti to get permission to establish a medical unit inside the school. By their own means and with the support of the Parents Association, the school arranged and prepared a space (including installing running water and electricity) for the clinic to function. And, the Sanitary Director is paying the salary of a medical assistant to staff the medical unit eight hours per day.

Although a space and staff were found the medical unit was lacking equipment and medical instruments.  

After collecting 15 per cent of the cost of the medical equipment (10 per cent from the city hall and 5 per cent from the Parent’s Association), the project reached out to World Vision for the acquisition of the medical instruments. 

Less than six months after Lucia began advocating, the medical unit opened. Since then, children have been visiting it regularly for a number of reasons. 

“There are only three medical doctors in our town,” said Carasella, the nurse attending the medical unit. “They hardly manage to monitor all of the patients. Now, the children come to our medical facility here at school and they receive immediate care, regardless if it is a simple cold or a superficial accident. But, the most important thing is that they receive professional medical advices.”

“I stepped on a needle at home and needed first aid,” said Elisabeta , age 14. “The medical assistant was here at the school. She bandaged my foot.  If it weren’t for this medical unit, I would have had to go to Vaslui, which is 30 km away. The bandage must be change every two days, so imagine how fortunate I feel for having the possibility of doing it here. Going to Vaslui meant that I had to skip school for one day and pay for the bus. Now, I can come here, right after school or during the break.”