LETTERING:
Tefé Regional Hospital
February 2021

LETTERING:
Carolina Kenedy
MSF doctor

VO + INT:
The rise in cases that happened recently has slightly disrupted this hospital.

Around the middle of January, we started to have more complex cases and more intubated patients.

And the most concerning thing was that at the beginning, if we didn’t transfer an intubated patient to Manaus in 48 hours, we would lose that patient.

LETTERING:
Eduardo Vieira
MSF doctor

VO + INT:
We created an intensive care unit that didn’t exist before in the hospital.

So, very quickly we were able to receive patients and managed to stabilize them.

SCENE:
- It’s going to be okay. Take a deep breath.
- It’s okay. We are here with you.

LETTERING:
Without ICU beds, the standard procedure in Tefé was to transfer all critical patients by air to Manaus, the state capital.

The collapse of the capital's health system meant there was no place to take them, so the hospital had to adapt.

MSF helped establish protocols that allowed more comfort and better patient care.

VO + INT:
The work of being a doctor, being a nurse and being human in this whole process has been something that we focus on a lot.

Preventing intermediate patients and less severe patients from reaching a critical state is also a very important job and now we can finally focus on that.

Most of these patients have already been here for a long time.

We already know the patients by name, they are patients that we follow the family...

SCENE:
- Hi, darling.
- Nothing is happening, okay?
- She already opens her arm, like, "you can put the medicine."
- How's it going? Is everything okay?
- Everything is okay.

LETTERING:
Júlia Queiroz
MSF doctor

VO + INT:
A patient who really left a mark on me was Bonifácia.
She is a 109-year-old patient who is not from Tefé, but arrived in Tefé when she was 14 with her sister.

Her sister fell in love with the only teacher in town and ran away with him since it was a secret relationship and she couldn't stay in the city.

Bonifácia did not go to school and soon started to work in agriculture.

She learned how to read and write at the age of 100.

She is a patient with a beautiful story.

And she had her birthday here with us, now during COVID.
It was really cool because she is very lucid.

She said “Oh, since I'm not well I can't eat cake. But my dear, I have already eaten 108 cakes.”

She is always joking. It’s really something.

LETTERING:
Francineide do Nascimento
Bonifácia's granddaughter

VO + INT:
They sang happy birthday to her, they made two cakes…and she relaxed a lot.

Thank God she is...
We thought she wasn’t going to make it, you know?
Congratulations to my grandma!

LETTERING:
Taiane Alencar
Hospital psychologist

VO + INT:
She remains strong and is a very dear patient because she is very emotionally stable.

And she is a fighter too.

We say positive things to her and she always manages to say something positive back.

That is also very important.

SCENE:
- How old were you when you got this tattoo?
- A few years ago...
- Were you young?
- I was only a girl... an irresponsible one.
- Irresponsible, huh?
Stay strong and everything will be fine.

You are our sweetheart. We want this moment to happen, okay?

VO + INT:
So, the patient's hope helps a lot.

The more hopeful and the stronger the patient is, the easier it is for us to work, deal with and heal that patient.

I think I will take with me a lifetime of experiences from a very short time.

And I think that we leave behind that same feeling.

Because I think the objective is precisely to leave a legacy for this hospital, for this population.

In a professional sense, but also in terms of the soul: Talking to them about joy, about family, about going back and not forgetting to enjoy life, taking care of their children...

So, it’s a very special experience, really.

LETTERING:
After a few days, Bonifácia de Oliveira was discharged and went home with her family.

Carolina Kennedy, MSF doctor.

VO:
Dona Bonifácia went home.

I’m so happy! 109-years-old, got over something impossible, went home and lived through one of the biggest struggles of her life.

She went happy, laughing.

It was such a happy moment!

LETTERING:
MSF supported Tefé Regional Hospital between November 2020 and March 2021.