Carlos Chagas was a public health physician, known worldwide for being the only person in all of history to single-handedly describe a disease in its entirety — Chagas disease. He worked in several cities in the countryside, where he was outraged by the neglect and vulnerability of Brazil's rural populations. Director of the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine twice, having been the first Brazilian to receive the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from Harvard. A city in Minas Gerais was named after him.
Sanitary physician Carlos Chagas. Public domain image - Wikimedia Commons
Image description: This is a photograph of a man wearing a classic suit. He is facing the camera, with dark, well-trimmed hair. His beard is well groomed, and he appears to be wearing a black tie. The background is neutral and shows no additional details.Carlos Chagas Hospital, the oldest state hospital in Rio de Janeiro, was named in his honor and opened on June 26, 1937, in the neighborhood of Marechal Hermes. The hospital, now 84 years old, carries within it the history of countless employees, patients, and residents of Marechal.
In order to share unknown stories, we chose to interview a former hospital employee - Djalmina Cunha de Barros, a relative of one of the group's members, who worked at Carlos Chagas for 30 years.
Djalmina Cunha de Barros in her nurse's uniform. Personal collection
Image description: The image is an old black-and-white newspaper. It is divided into two vertical columns. In the first column, there is a headline reading "AS LARANJAS" in bold. Below it, there is a narrative text about a student demonstration. In the second column, there is more text detailing the events that occurred during the demonstration.When did you start working at Carlos Chagas? How many years was that? I worked, counting the internship, from 1968 until 1999. I started in the nursing assistant course, SETA. In 1970 I was hired by SUSEME. At the Hospital? At the Hospital Estadual Carlos Chagas. My whole life was Carlos Chagas. I worked until November 18, 1999. The course time already counted toward retirement since it was paid. It was 30 years.
Personal collection
Image description: This is an old photograph of an avenue. On the left, there is a building with classical architecture, possibly three stories, with balconies and decorative windows. On the right, there is also a similar building, but with different architectural details. In the center of the avenue, there is a square with trees and lampposts. People are walking along the avenue, and there are some buildings in the background, including a tower with a dome.What areas did you work in? I worked in the surgical center, in the maternity ward, men's surgical clinic, women's surgical clinic, emergency room, ICU, nursing supervision, and materials and sterilization center. During your years at Carlos Chagas, were there changes in the hospital? If so, were they for the worse or for the better? Yes, for the better. Many improvements: construction of a new materials center, a new surgical center. The wards were all restructured. What were working conditions like in these areas before? Was it good to work there, or did it get easier after the improvements? Yes, it got easier to work. But what was good back then was that the people who worked there were humanized. They gave more love to the patient and the work was first-rate. Do you remember any specific case that happened at the hospital? There's a lot we can't talk about because of professional confidentiality. But, for example, at Carlos Chagas, it would happen that people arrived shot… the trains, there was a train crash, so there were many injured, many amputations. It was in 1970... I think it was in 1975, the train disaster. I was at home, with my husband, we went to the hospital to help. We lived here in Marechal. It was tragic. Many people hurt, a lot of running around. I kept running, because Carlos Chagas didn't have enough supplies. For the most part, what were the hospital's patients like? In a hospital with general medicine, orthopedics, gynecology, burn care, you have every type of patient. Serious patients, stable patients. Generally it was lower or middle class people. But the hospital has treated congressmen, who stayed in separate rooms. There was every type of person. Was there ever a shortage of supplies or doctors at the hospital? When that happened, what were the nurses' working conditions like? A lot. Supplies were often lacking. When supplies ran out, as head of sterilization, I had to arrange, together with the materials sector, paper to sterilize equipment for every department. I would go out to the funeral home asking. The funeral home owner donated a lot of paper to Carlos Chagas… just as he donated soap to the laundry, which had no soap to wash the patients' clothes. Gauze, compresses, I would often go to Fleming to ask. The Alexander Fleming maternity hospital made incredible donations, I always got supplies there. The others, the materials sector, tried to borrow from somewhere else. But we lacked syringes, needles, adhesive tape, we lacked a lot of things. Do you think healthcare professionals were valued back then? We were valued in terms of salary, because the salary was enough for us to live on. After a certain time, we stopped earning as much. Salaries kept changing, and with two children, you have to pay for school, so you end up increasing your workload. I worked nights, I worked days, whoever called me, I'd go. But I did it because I love my profession. I worked out of love. I know I was a good boss, because all I get is praise. I never mistreated anyone, I always tried to understand their lives, to help, because it's everyone's job to help. So the work flowed. Because it was teamwork, love, friendship. If someone had a problem, I tried to solve it… and I helped other people. Because it wasn't just about the nursing side. You also have to know how to deal with human beings, both the patients and the staff. Oh, that was poetic. It was (laughs). I worked out of love. I liked money, but I loved my profession. What is the hospital's importance to the neighborhood? How did it affect, and how does it still affect, the lives of residents? The hospital is of great importance to the neighborhood and the surrounding area. In the past, there was no Family Clinic, there was nothing, it was just Carlos Chagas. So everything, every illness, pediatrics, gynecology, everything was handled at Carlos Chagas. And thank God, there were excellent doctors. The medical team, the nursing team, was excellent. People helped each other. Both nursing technicians and attendants… it was teamwork. There were the lab staff, x-ray staff. Carlos Chagas has a nickname, it's "Casão." It was like a home, everyone got along, everyone connected, a family. It's still known as Casão to this day.
Employee ID badge from Hospital Carlos Chagas - Personal collection
Image description: The image is a black-and-white poster. At the top, there is a date "1888 GOLDEN LAW 1988". Below, it reads "NOTHING HAS CHANGED" in large letters. Next is "LET'S CHANGE" with emphasis on "CHANGE". The phrase "MARCH AGAINST THE FARCE OF ABOLITION" appears below, highlighting participation. In the background, there are images of people in different situations, possibly related to the history of the abolition of slavery. At the bottom, it reads "TAKE PART MAY 11 - 4 PM - CANDELÁRIA BLACK MOVEMENT - RJ".To this day, Carlos Chagas Hospital remains of great importance to the neighborhood of Marechal Hermes, performing around 5,000 surgeries and serving approximately 60,000 people per year. It is extremely significant to see an institution built, cherished, and used by the neighborhood's residents, still running after so many years.
However, its importance is not limited to its medical services, since it is also responsible for carrying part of Marechal's history. In a few words, it can be said that Hospital Carlos Chagas tells a bit of the story of every person who has passed through it – whether staff, patient, or visitor. Its walls keep the memory of countless residents alive, eternalized in the local recollections.
