A Cuban mother reported the lack of staff and the poor conditions affecting the service at the 'René Vallejo Ortiz' Psychiatric Hospital in Camagüey, which she visited with her son after he suffered a crisis that required specialized attention.
However, once at the hospital, the doctors determined that the young man should be admitted for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), commonly known as electroshock treatment.
"Mom, please don't admit me to that room because I'm going to get worse," the son pleaded upon seeing the conditions in the admission room, with the bed destroyed and filthy.
Furthermore, according to the mother –identified on Facebook as Rosa León Ferrales– the "environment" of the room where her son would be admitted was not suitable, as there was only one healthcare assistant to attend to all the admitted patients, many of whom were "out of control" due to a lack of medication.
"Already know, there are no medications, only Flufenazine," said León Ferrales. Flufenazine is an antipsychotic medication used to treat schizophrenia and psychotic symptoms, such as hallucinations, delusions, and hostility.
Upon seeing the situation, the mother decided to request her son's immediate discharge under her responsibility. According to León Ferrales, in previous crises, his son had received electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) "on an outpatient basis," but that option had been removed from the public health system "due to the current issue [blackouts]."
"They are only providing outpatient treatment to specific cases, which we know what cases they tend to be," the mother reported, suggesting that the option of outpatient electroconvulsive therapy, like many other treatments in Cuba, is only available to the privileged, connected individuals, and those who pay large sums of money to corrupt personnel in the public health system.
Determined to take her son back home despite his mental health crisis, the mother asked the doctor who attended them for some solution, whether in the form of medication or other treatments, but the specialist refused and told her that by requesting to discharge him against medical advice, the hospital would not be responsible for the treatment the patient would receive.
León Ferrales denounced the doctor's behavior as a demonstration of irresponsibility and abandonment of the patient, who was denied medical treatment because he did not consent to a hospital admission that his mother deemed risky for her son's health. The mother's decision was "punished" by the doctor with indifference toward the patient's fate.
Other irregularities in the service were also criticized by the mother as mistreatment, lack of nursing staff, and beds. “This is how this country is being led,” concluded León Ferrales in his post.
The psychiatric hospital of Camagüey: An institution that has accumulated several citizen complaints
In terrible conditions, tied up by the lack of medication and subjected to electroshock, the patients of the Psychiatric Hospital of Camagüey survive, according to a complaint made on social media in May.
The news portal CubaNet published a gallery of images on Facebook showing the terrible conditions of the medical facility and how the patients cohabited there, strapped to chairs and stretchers.
"This is how patients are treated at the René Vallejo Ortiz Psychiatric Hospital in Camagüey. Due to the shortage of sedatives, many patients are being subjected to electroshock and are kept tied up," the publication emphasized.
According to the mentioned media, the patients slept on beds without mattresses and walked around disheveled, dirty, and barefoot in the hallways.
He also stated that the bathrooms did not meet basic hygiene conditions and showed photographs of dirty toilets, as well as hallways and sinks lacking the minimum hygiene standards required in a healthcare facility.
The reality shown by Cubanet contrasted with the ideal image of the Hospital projected weeks earlier by the state-run media, when the center celebrated its 52nd anniversary and an article from Radio Cadena Agramonte claimed it was "a pioneering institution in mental health care in Cuba, marking more than half a century of commitment to the psychological well-being of its patients."
In addition to this complaint, other voices have reported poor conditions of confinement and mistreatment of patients with mental disorders in hospitals such as Amalia Simoni, also in Camagüey.
Precisely at that center, patients were being mistreated by the staff attending to them, according to a shocking video released by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH).
In February 2023, the independent press uncovered a scandal that highlighted the collapse of public health services in Cuba, when an article from CubaNet reported the death of at least 13 patients at the Holguín Psychiatric Hospital showing symptoms of malnutrition, anemia, and bronchopneumonia.
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