“The pandemic continues to impact us.”

Thinking and acting for “childhood protection” is a challenge and, above all, a path that needs to be designed by many hands, with all the delicacy and strength that we can embrace, so that it can then be followed with the necessary determination. That’s what we’ve been doing at the Pequeno Príncipe Complex for over 100 years. In the second year of the pandemic, the challenge was even greater, but the difficulties did not mangle us. Resoluteness and warmth, responsibility and play, procedures and education, medicines and culture, exams and family and community life, dialogue and appreciation of knowledge. All of this was present in our daily lives, in the desire and commitment to offer all boys and girls, as well as employees and students, the best opportunities for development, health and life.

From this, analyzing the 2021 Pequeno Príncipe Complex balance sheet is very daunting and exceptionally comforting, and therefore difficult and contradictory. In these two years, the consequences of the pandemic on the economy and inflation engendered a burst in our hospital costs, and the effects on care production were devastating, as hundreds of procedures were canceled or postponed, bringing a reduction in revenue. It is also noteworthy to remember that the Public Health System (SUS, abbreviation in Portuguese) has not corrected the value of procedures for many years. In the combination of these factors, hospital care in the two pandemic years generated a historic deficit of US$ 16.74 million.

In the education area, the pandemic caused hard consequences, especially with the reduction in the number of students in undergraduate courses, except in the Medicine course, but also in lato sensu postgraduate courses. As a result, a decrease in cash generation, which also occurred in our Vaccine Center.

If, in one hand, we faced this set of factors that point to an exceptionally difficult and challenging external environment, we also had as a counterpoint an excellent performance in fundraising and in the good and efficient use of funds obtained. With that, we overcame the deficit and present a positive result. In the two years, the sum of the use of funds raised was US$ 19.74 million, which gave us a positive result of US$ 3 million.

We are deeply grateful to the community for their support. Without these contributions it would be impossible to proceed with our mission.

Historically, we have been committed to sustainability, and in 2021 we took important steps in our contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the ESG agenda. Our initiatives are part of a set of short, medium and long-term commitments, which are reflected in our relationship with the environment, with the social issues that involve our patients, and actions that involve undergraduate students and our governance.

Our effort in the pandemic was recognized in many ways, and one of them was the ranking of the American magazine Newsweek, which elected the 150 best pediatric hospitals in the world. We are number one as an exclusively pediatric hospital in South America. We dedicate this important achievement to all our supporters, doctors, employees and patients. We have a new starting point. A mark!

As a result of such support from the community, individuals and companies, we were able to maintain and improve the services we provide and invest in new technologies and knowledge production. This support coming from society, and also from representatives of the Prosecution Service and the Legislative Power, energizes us to do more and better.

We are aware of the difficulties in healthcare. This is a challenge that we have been facing since our early days. The SUS, whose fees are extremely outdated, and supplementary health, with increasingly restrictive impositions, combine with the consequences and aftermath of the pandemic to make it difficult to perceive the future and, as a result, impair our planning. To help us for a new cycle in the Complex, thinking about the long term, we hired the company Falconi, whose work has already started at the Hospital and will later be applied to the College and the Research Institute, articulating convergence for the Complex. For this review of strategic planning, we already know that the interaction between activities and their cooperation will guarantee sustainability.

But let’s move on to some important details.

We achieved important advances in care, especially in high complexity, in 2021. After a lot of planning and training, we started extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy, which replaces the functions of the heart and lung. An important milestone in the evolution of the treatments we offer.

In transplants, we reached a historic milestone, with 284 procedures performed in the year, the highest number ever recorded. The Liver Transplantation Service has established itself as one of the main services in Brazil, with surgeries performed on children under 3 years of age. Bone marrow transplants were also highlighted, with 73 procedures.

We opened the Computerized Gait Laboratory and the Virtual Rehabilitation Room. The Gait Laboratory is the only one in operation in Paraná for clinical evaluations of patients with gait disorders.

We expanded our activities in telemedicine, implementing the Telehealth Service, which offers remote consultations with different specialists. The new service was initiated by SUS patients, thus facilitating the access of this important part of the population, especially to the continuity of their treatments, which were so affected by the pandemic.

We renovated the Emergency Room dedicated to patients in the Public Health System, the Endoscopy Sector, the ophthalmological office, the Surgical ICU and the laundry room. We adapted specialty outpatient clinics and revitalized inpatient areas and auditoriums. There were several works aimed at improving flows, which translate into service quality.

At the College, we completed the building of Block 6, which concentrates the outpatient clinics for medical practices, the rooms where we exercise active methodologies and the space to work on distance learning with state-of-the-art methods, equipment, and structure.

Another important step was in our care for the environment. We were the first exclusively pediatric hospital in Brazil to offset our carbon emissions. We took this initiative because we believe that people’s health is closely linked to the health of the planet. Our doctors, employees, patients and, mainly, students are at peace about their responsibilities in the face of climate change.

At the Research Institute, there are 100 projects in progress, 13 of them focused on COVID-19. At the College, more than 1,400 students completed a highly technical and humanized training course.

With the joint efforts of this great network that fights for the right of our boys and girls to health and life, we are impacting and transforming society. It is a great honor to have your trust and support.

Thank you so much for joining us on this journey!

Corporate Director of the Pequeno Príncipe Complex