Getting out of our boxes makes health closer and more accessible
Cuando el invierno comenzaba a hacerse sentir en Pichilemu, el hospital local llevó su misión preventiva al corazón de la vida cotidiana: la feria semanal del pueblo. Enfermeras, dentistas y estudiantes de salud salieron de sus consultorios para encontrarse con los vecinos entre los puestos y el bullicio, recordándonos que el cuidado de la salud no siempre comienza en una sala de espera. La vacunación contra la influenza, presentada no como obligación sino como acto de protección colectiva, fue el eje de un encuentro que buscó acortar la distancia entre la medicina y la gente.
- El invierno se acerca y con él las enfermedades respiratorias, creando una ventana estrecha para actuar antes de que el virus se propague por la comunidad.
- El Hospital de Pichilemu montó un stand en la feria local, rompiendo la barrera invisible que separa a los profesionales de salud de los ciudadanos en su vida diaria.
- La enfermera Claudia Galdames fue directa: vacunarse a tiempo no es opcional, es la defensa más sólida para protegerse uno mismo y a la familia entera.
- El Dr. Marcelo Castro identificó algo más profundo en la jornada: salir del box clínico transforma la salud de algo que le ocurre a uno en algo que le pertenece a todos.
- La iniciativa apunta a normalizar la conversación sobre prevención, haciendo que el acceso a información no dependa de una cita formal sino de un simple paso por la feria.
Un día en que el frío invernal ya se dejaba sentir, el Hospital de Pichilemu instaló un stand en la feria semanal del pueblo bajo el nombre "Hospital Pichilemu en Tu Feria". La idea era sencilla pero significativa: llevar la conversación sobre la vacuna contra la influenza y el cuidado preventivo directamente a donde la gente ya estaba, entre vendedores y vecinos, sin necesidad de turno ni sala de espera.
La enfermera Claudia Galdames, el dentista y coordinador del modelo de salud familiar Dr. Marcelo Castro, y el estudiante de enfermería Tomás González —en plena práctica profesional— respondieron preguntas, explicaron riesgos y recordaron que las decisiones pequeñas de hoy protegen a toda una familia durante los meses más duros del año. Galdames fue enfática: vacunarse a tiempo es fundamental, no algo que pueda postergarse. El virus no espera.
Pero fue el Dr. Castro quien señaló lo que quizás importaba más allá de los datos. Salir del consultorio y pararse en una feria cambia la dinámica por completo. La salud deja de ser algo que ocurre cuando uno está enfermo y se convierte en algo cercano, cotidiano, de todos. "Salir de nuestros boxes y conversar con la gente nos permite hacer la salud más cercana y accesible", dijo.
Para el hospital, estas jornadas forman parte de una estrategia más amplia: fortalecer el vínculo con la comunidad y hacer que la prevención no se sienta lejana ni burocrática. El invierno trae enfermedades respiratorias. La feria reúne a las personas. El hospital decidió estar ahí, en ese cruce, con información útil y presencia humana.
The Pichilemu Hospital set up a booth at the town's weekly fair on a day when the winter chill was settling in. Their mission was straightforward: get people talking about flu shots and preventive care before the season turned serious. The operation, called "Hospital Pichilemu in Your Fair," brought together nurses, dentists, and health students—people who normally work inside clinic walls—and asked them to meet residents where they actually were, among the vendors and the crowd.
Claudia Galdames, a nurse at the hospital, was there answering questions about respiratory illness and vaccination. So was Dr. Marcelo Castro, a dentist and the coordinator of the hospital's integrated family and community health model. A nursing student from the O'Higgins Technical Institute in Pichilemu, Tomás González, was doing his practical training at the fair that day. Together they fielded questions from neighbors, explained why getting vaccinated now mattered, and talked about the small choices that protect health during the months when colds and flu move through a community fast.
Galdames was direct about the stakes. She told people that getting vaccinated on time was fundamental—not optional, not something to put off. It was the strongest defense against serious respiratory disease, she said, and it protected not just the person getting the shot but their families too. Winter was coming, and the virus didn't wait for convenient timing. The message was practical and clear: if you want to stay healthy and keep your household healthy, this is what you do.
What struck Dr. Castro about the day was something simpler but perhaps more important. He noted that stepping out of the hospital's examination rooms and into the fair changed the whole dynamic. When health workers are behind a desk in a clinic, there's distance—physical and psychological. But standing at a fair booth, answering questions as people walked by, made health feel like something that belonged to everyone, not just something that happened to you when you were sick enough to seek it out. "Getting out of our boxes and talking with people lets us make health closer and more accessible," he said. It was a small shift in how the work got done, but it mattered.
The hospital framed these outreach days as part of a larger strategy: strengthen the bonds between the institution and the community it serves, make preventive care feel less distant and more connected to how people actually live. Winter in Pichilemu brings respiratory illness. The fair brings people together. The hospital saw an opportunity to meet them there, to make information available without requiring a formal appointment, to normalize the conversation about staying well. It was community health work stripped down to its essence—showing up where people are and giving them what they need to take care of themselves.
Notable Quotes
Getting vaccinated on time is fundamental to protect your health and your family's health during winter—it's the strongest defense against serious respiratory illness.— Claudia Galdames, nurse at Pichilemu Hospital
When we step out of our clinical spaces and talk directly with people, we make health feel closer and more accessible to everyone.— Dr. Marcelo Castro, dentist and health model coordinator
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did the hospital choose the fair specifically? Why not a clinic day or a neighborhood meeting?
The fair is where people already gather. You don't have to convince them to show up. They're there buying vegetables, seeing neighbors. Health becomes part of that natural flow instead of something you have to make a separate trip for.
Did they see a lot of people, or was it mostly a symbolic gesture?
The source doesn't give exact numbers, but the fact that they sent multiple staff members and a student suggests they expected real volume. These aren't small operations—they're staffing it like they meant to handle a crowd.
What's the actual risk if people don't get vaccinated before winter hits?
Respiratory illness spreads fast in close quarters when the weather turns cold. For vulnerable people—the elderly, young children, anyone with existing health problems—the flu can become serious quickly. Vaccination doesn't guarantee you won't get sick, but it dramatically reduces the chance of severe illness.
Did anyone push back? Did people seem skeptical about vaccines?
The source doesn't mention resistance. It focuses on the hospital's messaging and the professionals' commitment. That silence itself is interesting—either there wasn't significant pushback, or the hospital chose not to highlight it.
What happens after the fair? Do people actually follow through and get vaccinated?
That's the real question, isn't it? The outreach plants the seed, answers questions, removes one barrier—you don't have to go to the hospital. But whether people actually go get the shot depends on a dozen other factors: time, trust, competing priorities. The hospital is doing its part.