Omaira Cecilia Hurtado

Medical Director of the Baxter-Ambato Renal Care Center

• How did you join Baxter RCS?

When I joined, they were just going to start dialysis in Ambato, so it was going to be the first unit to be set up in this town.

At that time I was contacted by Maria Yined Polanía, who was the Operations Manager and together with Inés Salgado, who is the administrator until now, we both started the unit 14 years ago.

• Would you recommend people to work at Baxter RCS?

I have felt very empowered with my work and it really is a second home for us, I would 100% recommend that The Best Place to Work is Baxter!

• What is your role within Baxter RCS?

My role is to be a leader of several people, in charge of the support group. Being in charge of nursing is supervising, guiding and motivating everyone to go the same way, so that we all work towards a common goal and do the best teamwork for the good of the patients. Within that, I am in charge of reviewing and supervising indicators, being aware of the assistance given to patients, of all the records that are made, supervising the work of several people.

• What do you think is our differential value in RCS for its collaborators?

Our culture is really based on ethics and honesty, this is a differential that makes Baxter stand apart from what others do. Also the treatment given to collaborators, which makes us feel very good, very important for the work we do.

• How has your relationship been with the different areas of RCS?

Over the years I have really seen an evolution. When we just started we wanted to handle something of the Quality Management System and we have seen that, in all the technical, healthcare and direct patient care aspects, there has been a very large evolution and that has allowed us to grow accompanied by the different areas, because this has been a continuous training to learn from other people who have been feeding us to improve each time.

• What does working at RCS mean to you?

It's like an additional house to mine. I feel very comfortable, I am always motivated to come. Those of us who have been here a long time know everything that has happened, the history that has existed behind all these years of effort and I really feel that part of that effort is the grain of sand that we have contributed with all the improvements we have made, So, working here for me is very important, I consider it like a second home because we even spend a lot of time together here with other people. I always feel comfortable and doing what I like.

• How has RCS influenced your family, personal and professional lifestyle?

Just as we have seen that the unit has grown and improved, on the personal side I have had many facilities, in fact, when I received the list of questions, I remembered that when I started working at Baxter my daughters were small, I was pregnant with my second daughter and went to training with her, now, my daughters are already teenagers. Baxter has allowed me to have that link between the professional and personal aspects that is very important to me and being here has made it easier for me to combine both parts without difficulties. In the professional part I have seen all the learning I have had, all the courses I have received, the training that has been given to us, so every day is a continuous improvement, looking for other things to do. I really like the support we are given to grow professionally.

• Do you have or have you had direct contact with patients in your Renal Unit? Yes/no How has the Patient Experience been transformed in our care processes at RCS in Ecuador?

Yes, I consult, so if I only dedicated myself to the managerial or administrative part, I would not feel calm. My strength and my love for patients makes me not want to lose that, so I continue to consult them.

It really motivates me to see the evolution they have when they first enter (physically and emotionally depressed), and then after a few months to help them feel complete, reintegrate into their personal/work activity, it is my engine to continue forward every day. days.

Every day we focus more on the holistic part by seeing the person as a whole, not only their physical and emotional part, but also their family. That is not only reviewing the exams or giving him medication, but also being more interested in him or her, trying to promote the desire to continue working and enjoying life. Sometimes they come with negative feelings, so giving them that push so that they want to continue has been the big change by focusing more on the human sense. Achieving this is something very important in the transformation we have had in recent years!

• How has your professional growth process been at RCS?

Little by little I have gone deeper because what I am passionate about is peritoneal dialysis, I have learned a lot with so much experience, we have already had many patients and I feel completely convinced of this therapy, I think it is the best option for a patient .

I have acquired that professional growth thanks to the training I have had and the experience we have had in all these years; Not only in that professional part but in other capacities, I also became a certified auditor, which has allowed me to go through a process of continuous improvement, advancing more every day.

• In the performance of your work, how do you feel that you fulfill our mission of Saving and Sustaining Lives?

It is really the most beautiful mission because I feel totally identified and as I said before, seeing a patient evolve has no comparison. We have had very delicate patients who have come in very bad conditions and then seeing that they are improving more every day, it really is priceless and fills our hearts a lot.

“I am convinced that Baxter is the Best Place to Work, it is a lifestyle to which I have already adapted, I have made my life here and I have Baxter tattooed on my heart because it is part of my life. In my personal and professional life, I share all the cultural values that make me a better person.”