The hospital of Padua has been used as a model around the world in its fight against Covid-19
It’s a difficult time for everyone. The coronavirus hit us with the strength of a hurricane, and it hasn’t let us go yet. But to tackle the crisis, the hospital of Padua has been used as an example for the world. Just as it was two Paduan companies that made innovative contributions that were particularly useful during the public health crisis. Let’s see together what these were.
A brief history of a great medical school
The history of healthcare in our city goes back a long time, with the hospital of San Francesco Grande, founded in 1414 at the request of two Paduan citizens: Baldo Bonafari and his wife Sibilla de Cetto.
The hospital of San Francesco Grande was an act of charity, dedicated to welcoming and curing the sick, needy and destitute.
The couple couldn’t have imagined that from their charitable initiative a great medical school would have been born – one of the most important in Europe.
The Paduan hospital occupied the space between the current roads of San Francesco, del Santo and Galileo Galilei and had everything that at the time rendered it its own independent institution.
Moreover, as early as the first half of the 16th century it taught the first “clinical” lessons at the patients’ beds, quickly becoming proper practical courses for students of medicine.
The collaboration between the hospital and the city’s university strengthened in the 18th century with the opening of the Nuovo Ospedale Giustinianeo (New Hospital), that housed the Medical Clinic and the Surgical Clinic.
Over time, the development of care and study activities also brings with it a visible expansion of hospital buildings in the city
The current Polyclinic, the Monoblocco are built over the course of the 19th century; the Paediatric building in the Fifties and almost at the same time all the other University Clinics, so making the hospital of Padua a city within the city.
A place with high specialisation, which is much spoken of at this time.
The hospital of Padua today: on the front lines of the covid pandemic
Last February, when the pandemic first appeared in Codogno, Lombardy and Vo’ Euganeo in Veneto this north eastern region of Italy felt doomed.
Padua was the second hardest-hit area in Italy, by the number of new cases and deaths. Covid hasn’t been defeated yet but at least the end is in sight. Figures in hand, in mid / late April the Veneto has one third of the victims of Emilia Romagna, half of Piedmont, one fifteenth of Lombardy
There were multiple factors that contributed to the containment of the virus.
But most of all, in just a few days the Azienda Ospedaliera of Padua (the local hospital health service) was able to organise a task force of researchers, academics and healthcare workers, doctors and nurses whose excellence was recognised worldwide.
The New York Times, Harvard University and many international experts continue to cite the example of the Paduan system, in particular the intensive care units, as a model to aspire to for healthcare policies in times of emergency like the one we are currently living through.
From the Biomedical District: innovative testing kits
Other than an outstanding healthcare system, our city has another strength: the Biomedical district, that has its headquarters located between Padua and Verona.
The size of the companies there range from small to medium-sized and are all strongly research and innovation-based in various sectors: rehabilitation therapy, orthopaedics, technical equipment and furnishings, medical biotechnology and much more.
From the collaboration between two Paduan companies, EZ Lab and AB Analitica, a kit is now on the market that allows up to 100 nasopharyngeal swab samples to be analysed in around 3 hours in order to detect any positive Covid samples, testing up to 400 samples a day.
The invention of this machine allows lab technicians, by simply reading the QR code on the tubes to be sure they have legal and certified samples, thanks to blockchain technology.
Despite the fact Covid-19 has not been beaten and researchers are still researching and working on vaccines, can we not still be proud of this?
Where is it?
Azienda Ospedaliera di Padova (the local hospital health service)
Via Nicolò Giustiniani 2
Distance from ApartmentsPadova: see on map
Ospedale Giustinianeo
Via Ospedale Civile
Distance da ApartmentsPadova: see on map
Ospedale Sant’Antonio
Via Jacopo Facciolati 71
Distance da ApartmentsPadova: see on map
IOV- Ospedale Busonera
Via Gattamelata 64
Distance da ApartmentsPadova: see on map
Photo via:
envato.com
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