01 May 2024, 05:02
4 min read
MUSSOMELI (CALTANISSETTA) – Erika Moscatello, the great-granddaughter of Ernesto Che Guevara, has been living in the heart of Sicily for three years, where she started a “healthcare” revolution. With your consultancy association “Agenda 2030” you have created a bridge with Argentina and have already allowed 100 doctors to arrive in Sicily to work. The interview.
How did you arrive in Sicily?
“I arrived in 2021, we were in Tuscany and we arrived in Mussomeli due to the pandemic. We tried to work freely with the child outdoors. In Tuscany people were scared just by looking at us on the street, in Sicily they hugged and kissed us and we immediately got on well.”
Why Mussomeli?
“The reason is because we were in contact with the Municipality and then they presented us with the Confapi headquarters. I have the honor of being ambassador of Confapi Sicilia for Argentina. What we did before was manage the attractiveness of Italian investors abroad.”
How did you get started in the healthcare industry?
“When we arrived in Mussomeli we bought a house, we had inquired about a pediatrician for our son and they told me that there were no pediatricians and that the hospital was about to close. I immediately took action to contact the doctors, we risked leaving Mussomeli. There were many elderly people, healthcare was based on ambulances that transported the sick to Caltanissetta.”
What did he do?
I called our friends in Argentine universities, I asked if the doctors might be interested in coming to Italy. From one day to the next we created a communication and 5 thousand doctors showed up. The lawyers looked at how to resolve the various problems. They explained the requirements to us and a lot of doctors arrived in Sicily.”
What do you know about Ernesto Che Guevara?
“The kinship is from my grandmother, it is an honor for us. My father was called Ernesto, my son is called Fidel, we are proud. We also have other important exponents in our family tree.”
Who would be ‘Che’ today?
“He would be a man of peace. We believe in a peaceful revolution, we have the same approach in reality, we care about the vulnerable, we have the responsibility to lend a hand to our community.”
Why are there a shortage of doctors in Sicily and Italy?
“My hypothesis is that the health crisis starts from the demographic crisis. It’s not just the limited number, I think that the demographic crisis doesn’t just depend on internal factors, an external impulse is needed and we think that foreign doctors are the solution to this crisis.”
What do you think of Sicily?
“In Sicily we have an infrastructural crisis, significant seniority and I think that Sicily is one of the most vulnerable regions in Italy. It deserves special attention of our rulers
How many Argentine doctors are treating Sicilians?
“Right now we have 100 doctors. We are interviewing about 12 of them per week. We can say that they are filling hospital after hospital throughout Sicily. We have Argentine doctors, think that there are more than 180 thousand doctors. We have 4 thousand graduates a year who can help Italians.”
How is their degree from a preparation point of view?
“Doctors’ degrees are the same all over the world. There can be no prejudice. Spain is recognizing the title of doctor automatically. We must ensure that foreign doctors can always have their qualifications recognized in Italy.”
Do they graduate and specialize in Argentina?
“Yes, we have very high quality doctors, it is the home of Nobel Prize winners. We have the best in hematology all over the world, in Italian hospitals the Italian-Argentinians work very well. They are not doctors who come to Italy to learn, they have the American training school, they are trained in practice. They touch the patient with their hands. There are cases in which Argentine doctors have saved lives.”
Are we talking about all the specializations?
“Yes, they are nuclear doctors, physiatrists, gynecologists, paediatricians, urologists, cardiologists. Argentine doctors are truly prepared. It is a cultural and health revolution.”
Can Argentine doctors reach all over Italy?
“Yes, they can solve the Italian health crisis. Entire families of doctors emigrate, not only to Sicily. They are all head doctors, they train other doctors and allow us to make a leap in quality in Italian healthcare. It’s like in football”2.
Is Sicily therefore a sort of laboratory for Italian healthcare?
“Yes, it all started from Mussomeli, we have 9 in service here. In Cefalù there are 20, and then Messina, Caltanissetta, Trapani. They come with their families, often the doctors’ wives are also doctors. They are Italians, children of Italians who emigrated to Argentina who return to Italy, who have parents from Palermo or Trapani. And they speak Italian well. This is not the future but the present.”
Published on
01 May 2024, 05:02
