Trauma IMAE, CAMCEL’s great objective for 2026
As a year closes where improvements were made in many areas, from customer service to technological equipment and services, the Cerro Largo Medical Cooperative is already projecting itself into the future.
In moments of balance, it is very positive due to the institutional growth and the link with its users through the CAMCEL Más Cerca Program.
Having a Traumatological IMAE is one of the main, if not the main, objectives for 2026.
“When I talk about vision and mission, CAMCEL has the vision of being the leader in the development of Medicine in the department” said the President of the Board of Directors.
“We don’t say it out of ego or anything like that, but we genuinely think about it because when we develop something, we do it thinking about all the residents of Cerro Largo” he said Dr. Felipe Ricagni.
“When we buy the CT scanner, it is for everyone. A good agreement is made with the Hospital and everyone has access. When we made an ICT with 10 beds, we thought about it for the entire department” he stated.
Regarding hip and knee prostheses, all health users, both public and private, must travel to Montevideo to undergo surgery. These are surgeries that are covered by the National Resources Fund, a very good tool that Uruguay has regardless of whether the patient is from CAMCEL, British or ASSE. “Every Uruguayan who needs a hip or knee prosthesis, it is the State that covers that benefit” he remembered.
“In order to be able to sell the service to the FNR, you have to meet certain requirements and that implies creating an Institute of Highly Specialized Medicine (IMAE)” expressed Dr. Ricagni. “We are empowering the colleagues we have here, the Traumatologists, Dr. Cuña, above all, who had already done some prostheses, and there are many colleagues who are going to operate in Montevideo. From there, the feasibility study was done to see if it could be done and it was resolved that it was necessary to invest. This will give the possibility to all the inhabitants of the region – Treinta y Tres, Rivera and Tacuarembó – who do want to have a knee prosthesis or from the hip they do it in Melo” he remarked.
It revealed that there are large differences in the number of interventions of this type that users carry out if they live near Montevideo with those who live in cities and towns located further north in the country. “If the public sector is subdivided with the private sector, the difference is even greater. Yes in CAMCEL we do 50 in Montevideo, the Hospital does 25” he assured. “And it is not that there are 25 fewer in the Hospital that they need, they are people who unfortunately cannot travel to Montevideo because sometimes they live off the changa or do not have a family member who can accompany them to be hospitalized in the capital for 5 days” broad.
In this way, surgery is postponed, many times it ends up not being performed, which directly affects the quality of life of people who are bedridden or dependent on a wheelchair. “He did not access something that the State is paying for, which is free” he insisted. “It happens that moving to Montevideo implies a social cost that sometimes we do not see” he pointed out.
“In that sense, all the institutions of the interior have that desire to try to give the best to our citizens” stressed the President of CAMCEL.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENTS IN SURGICAL BLOCK
Although the work that is underway is linked to the IMAE, it goes beyond this new service. “We had a Surgical Block with 2 very good rooms, but they were already several years old. Now it will be left with 3 rooms, equipped with the latest technology and with the latest criteria used” reported Dr. Felipe Ricagni.
“In this entire project, one of the three rooms has the characteristics required by the National Resources Fund and the Ministry of Public Health” he assured.
