Improvements included kitchen and bathroom remodeling, lighting, universal access, rainwater drainage, and installation of vinyl flooring. These improvements were possible thanks to Somos los Vilos, a program that also combined the efforts of the Health Advisory Council, Hospital San Pedro de los Vilos and the local municipality.
Los Vilos, May 16, 2023.- As a great social action. Thus began the history of the Los Vilos Community Shelter, a place that has been continuously opening its doors since 2008 so that patients, mainly from rural areas and pregnant women, have an affordable housing option. To various health centers in the region and province.
Today, thanks to the joint work between Minera los Pelambres, the Health Advisory Council, San Pedro de los Vilos Hospital and the local municipality, through Somos los Vilos, this social action renews its commitment, as it eliminates them and the remodeling was inaugurated. Works.
“The purpose of our shelter is to take care of rural patients, pregnant women and people who travel in the so-called “map bus”, which leaves the hospital every day at three in the morning and takes patients to other cities for their medical treatment. Care. We are very pleased with the results of this project, said Patricia Guajardo, chair of the Los Vilos Health Advisory Council, after attending the ceremony held on Thursday, May 11.
The first phase contemplated exterior improvements, such as façade painting, lighting, universal access, and a solution for rainwater drainage, while the second included interior improvements, such as the installation of vinyl flooring and remodeling of bathrooms and kitchens. , meeting all the needs and demands by the users themselves, and it capped an investment of $77 million.
“We are very pleased to be a part of this project, which was born out of a need for patients who not only needed health care, but also a place to wait and be transferred. It has been a task where the coordination and participation of different actors and organizations has been crucial, and in the end it allows us to build better cities,” said Rodrigo Vargas, deputy manager of community relations at Minera Los Pelambres.
For his part, Paz Drago, deputy director of the Hospital de los Vilos, said that these improvements “are an example of the concern that all the institutions participating in this inauguration have for the care of our patients.”
The municipality also disclosed the joint work and confirmed its support for this type of initiative. “The municipality will continue to work together, it will continue to support, to improve the conditions of those who pass through this shelter,” said Juan Carlos Alfaro, the municipality’s director of community development. Los Vilos.
Beyond shelter
In the commune of Los Vilos, Minera Los Pelambres has carried out more than 30 projects and initiatives to improve the quality of life of its residents, with investments in health, a collaborative alliance between the company, one in the Somos Los Vilos Program is the main axis. , municipality and community.
Along these lines, works such as the first public hemodialysis center in the Coquimbo region are noteworthy, which materialized in 2020, thanks to joint work with the regional government and the health service, through the Somos los Vilos program. A space implemented with high technology and comfort situated in an area of 747 square meters which has prevented dialysis patients from going to other communities and even regions to receive their treatment.
Along the same axis, the current project of Sesfam for the Quilimari Valley is also worth mentioning, an initiative that is in the administrative process to make its construction and subsequent operation viable, and which last March secured the land and started construction. Initiated the design proposal, which will ultimately rest in the hands of the Ministry of Health.
“There has been an important axis of work in health which has materialized through important works such as the Dialysis Center and the Cesfame de Quilimari, with the latter making significant progress in the acquisition of land and its application and construction. Added to this is the equipment that has been given to the Hospital de los Vilos, which results in improvements for patients because it is a hidden, unspoken need that benefits many people,” Rodrigo Vargas, Community Relations for the company The deputy manager concluded.
