Cuban Hospitals Don't Offer Complete Service

Cuban Hospitals Don't Offer Complete Service / Anddy Sierra Alvarez
Posted on May 21, 2013

The Julio Trigo and The Dependent Hospitals don't offer full service.
Doctors choose to give basic treatment to avoid complications due to
lack of hygiene and the poor condition of patient rooms.

An unnamed doctor "Julio Trigo" says that he has been forced to send
patients for home treatment. "I should not be so, but the hospital is
horrifying conditions, cockroaches walking through walls, this is a
disaster!" Says the doctor.

Julio Trigo Hospital is the main one for the municipality of Arroyo
Naranjo and The Dependent Hospital is one of the main hospitals for the
municipality of Cerro. They have lost the confidence of the residents of
the two areas, according to the comments of delegates (one delegate
from Cerro and one from Arroyo Naranjo) from each municipality, who did
not want to be identified.

An unnamed doctor at "Julio Trigo" says that he has been forced to send
patients home for treatment. "I should not be so, but the hospital
conditions are horrifying, cockroaches walking along walls, this is a
disaster!" Says the doctor.

Marielena Garcia, 45, accompanying a patient explains she was waiting
for her mom to get better to take her from the hospital to finish the
treatment at home. "I was sitting on the side of the bed and a cockroach
dropped on my face. The beds are dirty, you even get the smell of urine,
you have to bring several sheets to avoid complications of infection,"
says Garcia.

An unnamed doctor at The Dependent Hospital says that all the patients
who come to the hospital complain about dirt. "It's a risk to send the
patient home, but better than the complications with bacteria," said the
doctor.

Alfredo Gonzalez, 32, says that in the middle of 2012 he went to The
Dependent Hospital with a deep machete wound and almost lost his leg to
an infection acquired from instruments that weren't disinfected.

Maria Rodriguez, 48, says she's complained about the management, but
never had the chance to see the hospital director in person.

The country has refurbished hospitals in the capital, but after a year
many are back to the previous bad condition. The chairs, the beds and
the drinking fountains reflect the care of the people and the workers.

20 May 2013

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