The most important dental clinic in Matanzas has been closed for over two months since a truck crashed into a pole on March 4, leaving the facility without electricity. This is a clear example of the negligence and sluggishness of the regime in failing to resolve the situation.
The inaction of the local government affects the 19,172 patients served by the clinic, who are forced to seek assistance from other healthcare centers to address their issues. Additionally, the delays harm the care provided to pregnant women, a program that the regime claims is “a priority” within the National Public Health System.
According to Dr. Bárbara Serrano Romaguera, the director of the institution, following the impact on the pole that caused a transformer to fall and spill its internal oil, it was decided that the remaining ones would be dismantled, reported the government-aligned newspaper Girón.
Serrano reported that due to the insistence of the healthcare workers, the regime placed the three transformers back in their original position on March 21, “but without activating them,” he emphasized.
The doctor recounted that that was where the ordeal began because, three days later, "the workers from the Electric Company returned and took the first one. On May 6, they repeated the same action with the second, and a week later, the third," all without informing her, she noted.
Serrano noted that they have consistently reported the issue to all levels of the government, including the Electric Company and even the provincial Public Health union; however, “we continue to remain without a response,” he stated.
In addition to the impact on patients, employee dissatisfaction is significant, as they are subjected to salary reductions due to the inability to receive payments under special conditions, and are engaged solely in field activities, the management warned.
This unrest among the workforce is intensified by the fact that they are unable to receive their full salary, which is insufficient in the current economic crisis.
Additionally, the doctor warned of another issue if the clinic remains closed: “We have the materials needed to create dental prosthetics, but their properties are compromised in this situation. For example, the wax deforms with the intense heat, and we have to start all over again.”
In the current landscape, where healthcare facilities are severely impacted by a shortage of medical supplies, it is unjustifiable for the regime to prolong the issue of the lack of electricity in the main dental clinic in Matanzas.
In January, a Cuban woman reported that her father was denied medical attention at a hospital in Guantánamo due to a lack of supplies, and instead, “he was sent home to die without being given first aid.”
"Good afternoon, friends, family, acquaintances, and all those who can relate. Right now, we are going through a critical situation with my dad, better known as Indio from Reparto Obrero, who was denied care at the General Hospital. They say it was because they lack resources (gloves, cotton swabs, saline solution, forceps, etc.)," reported this Guantanamera who identifies herself on Facebook as Nora GR.
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