All the professionals at Ribera Salud Group are doing their best during this crisis caused by the COVID19 global pandemic. We’re an organisation of people who serve people, and over these past few weeks our staff has proved that it always takes the extra step to ensure the best possible care for those who need it. Words like involvement, calling, commitment, dedication, and determination fall short when it comes to describing the excellent work the team is doing. From physicians, nurses, assistants, technicians, and caretakers to admission, systems, administration, and cleaning personnel, there are always volunteers to cover shifts, help colleagues, keep our centres running at full capacity and, furthermore, to collaborate with the different initiatives we’ve implemented to make our patients’ stay as humane as possible, helping them feel as supported as possible in the solitude of isolation that this virus imposes.
So, in addition to the pride I feel in representing such a committed and passionate team of professionals, today I want to highlight the involvement, courage and solidarity of a group of nine students from the Nursing School at Povisa Hospital in Vigo, who have volunteered to work for the next two months as senior technicians in the country’s hotspot: the Community of Madrid. Despite being in their final year of school, this co-ed group (8 women and 1 man) wants to switch their focus to helping others and put everything they learned at the service of a society that needs them. Not only that, they face this challenge with enthusiasm, even with a sense of happiness for the opportunity to lend a helping hand.
I’ve always been convinced that Spanish youth is much more than some would like to convey. And, without a doubt, this group of nursing students from Povisa are an example not only for other young people, but for society as a whole. I’d like to take this opportunity to express my deepest appreciation for the enthusiasm with which you all have offered to work on the front line during such difficult and complex times. Because your decision is one of sacrifice and effort. Most are leaving Vigo (one is leaving the Canary Islands, where she lives, although she is completing her studies at Povisa) for Madrid, leaving their families and the comfort of their homes to work in a region that is suffering greatly from the harshest consequences of this global health crisis.
When Ribera Salud acquired Povisa, we knew that we were adding an iconic health project to the Group, a team of highly implicated and magnificent professionals, which also has an enormous asset: its Nursing School. We believed that this training centre was a value that should be preserved and promoted. And this group of student volunteers unquestionably proves that we were right.
The decision these young people have made to go to Madrid to work in the heart of the fight against the pandemic is news that has truly touched me. Because they represent, even before graduating, one of Ribera Salud’s core values: commitment. Because our organisation is committed to the professionals of today and tomorrow, to the health of our patients, to humane treatment, to closeness and involvement with the people we serve, to technology and to the quality of care we offer. And these young people represent the humanistic spirit, the vocation for service and the value of the commitment that Ribera Salud defends and conveys internally and with our patients.
Not only that, but their sacrifice has special merit because they have taken the extra step in one of the most difficult moments in the recent history of our Healthcare system. And this is something that must be applauded, both as a health professional and as a citizen.
As I conclude, it’s worth mentioning that one of the lessons we are undoubtedly learning from this crisis is that the pride we feel for our Healthcare is not intangible, nor a generic name. Our Healthcare wouldn’t exist without the professionals who work for the Spanish healthcare system. Yes. We have the best healthcare professionals in the world. And the students from Povisa prove that this vocation for service lives on. That’s why we applaud our healthcare professionals every day. They’re our most precious and cherished asset.
