The ceremony to take delivery of the equipment was held on Tuesday, July 7, in one of the Intermediate Therapy Units at the Comodoro Rivadavia Regional Hospital. Myriam Monasterolo, Director of the Southern Programming Area in the Chubut Health Ministry; Romina Galarza, Medical Associate Director at the Hospital; Carlos Catalá, the Health Secretary of Comodoro Rivadavia were joined by Tecpetrol members Ande Haile Selassie, the manager at the El Tordillo Field and executives from the San Jorge Gulf basin: José Tanaka, Head of Human Resources, Sandra Fernández, Head of Labor Relations Cuenca Golfo San Jorge.

With an investment of around USD 70,000, the Aeoned Model V70 ventilators are intended for patients needing respiratory assistance. This is state-of-the-art equipment with silent turbine technology which lends itself to a flexible configuration as it can be set up on a gurney, a bed or hung from the ceiling. The ventilators come with a color touch screen which allows lung and airway functions to be visualized and checked.

The donation of supplies and equipment for the city of Comodoro Rivadavia and the region was decided after a survey carried out by the Tecpetrol Community Relations Area and the Techint Group as the coronavirus pandemic spread through the communities. “We are convinced of the importance of supporting our health systems, looking after our communities and taking care of those people who are making such an effort to tackle this situation. It is a source of tremendous pride for us to be able to be present and help out where assistance is most needed, adding value to the region, today more than ever. We feel very much part of the community, given that we have been working at the El Tordillo field for the last 29 years,” said Ande Haile Selassie.

Since the social isolation measures were introduced, Tecpetrol has delivered over 22,000 biosafety items, including disposable gloves, surgical masks, Tyvek-type overalls, gel alcohol, nasopharyngeal swabs and goggles with the aim of collaborating with the health professionals attending to the needs of their local community. So far, the local investments made total nearly USD 142,000. “We work very closely with the health systems in the communities of Comodoro Rivadavia and Rada Tilly and are in permanent communication with the hospital directors as without them, this action would simply not have been possible. We designed the whole plan together with them, with a view to strengthening the capacity of local hospitals to deal with the health crisis. As we do with education, since we are not experts in the field, what we do is make available what we have in order to design the best joint plan with the community," explained Ande Haile Selassie.

The provincial and municipal authorities brought up the need to increase their response capabilities by acquiring more ventilators to face the pandemic. Myriam Monasterolo, Director of the Southern Programming Area, explained that “these ventilators are a critical link in hospital care, as there were no intermediate therapy facilities. The recent addition of this equipment has meant that they can reopen the area for patients not suffering from COVID-19."

Meanwhile, Romina Galarza, the hospitals’ Associate Medical Director said that “for us, this kind of equipment is absolutely unaffordable. I would also like to thank them for the speedy turn-around regarding the donation. This means that we now have all the resources we need to start working in this sector.”

Carlos Catalá, the Health Secretary spoke on behalf of the Municipality and stressed that “private sector companies are the ones best able to offer us this type of assistance, because the logistics involved are monumental. We are delighted with the work that Tecpetrol has been doing to help us since the pandemic began. Only a few weeks ago, they also donated biosafety and PPE items.”