The organizations Solidaridad Sin Fronteras (SSF) and Cruz Verde Internacional (CVI) presented the project "911 Cuba" in Miami, an initiative aimed at supporting the comprehensive reconstruction of the Cuban healthcare system in the event of a sociopolitical change on the Island.
Julio César Alfonso, president of SSF, explained to CiberCuba the details of the program, which includes a comprehensive assistance plan for Cuba and the recovery of its healthcare system, coordinated by SSF and CVI along with La Colonia Medical Center and other companies and institutions.
The official presentation took place at the La Colonia Medical Center, the first company to formally join the project, and included the participation of Julio César Alfonso, as well as Dr. Taimy Alfonso, president of CVI; and Dr. Jorge Acevedo, founder and president of La Colonia Medical Center.
"We are coordinating with different companies and institutions from the United States and Cuban-American organizations that are willing to participate in this project for the reconstruction of the Cuban healthcare system in case a sociopolitical change occurs on the Island," said Julio César Alfonso to Martí Noticias.
The name "911 Cuba" refers to the emergency number in the United States and reflects the urgent nature of the initiative, which has been operating for two years in an initial phase of sending medications and assistance to critically ill patients on the Island.
The plan includes two phases. The first consists of an immediate action of direct and free humanitarian assistance, featuring the deployment of field hospitals, mobile medical units, and the possible participation of U.S. Army hospital ships, with an estimated duration of about two years.
The second phase, which would start in parallel, aims to establish a permanent healthcare system that combines a private sector with subsidized social programs, similar to the mutualist model that existed in Cuba before 1959.
SSF has 57,000 healthcare professionals in its network, the majority of whom are Cuban. Alfonso estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 of them would be willing to participate voluntarily in the first phase of the emergency.
"Several thousand, at least 15 to 20,000 frontline professionals would be ready to enter the Island in different regions and work voluntarily to assist the Cuban people," he detailed.
Dr. Taimy Alfonso emphasized the role of the exile community in the initiative: "What we are going to do is create a recovery system in the health sector in Cuba, providing professionals in the field that we already have, supplying resources from companies that exist here in South Florida, most of which are owned by Cubans."
The project aims to bring together hundreds of companies in the health, construction, technology, and finance sectors, both Cuban-American and European and Canadian, which would receive contracts and tax benefits in exchange for their participation.
Alfonso also assured that the United States military has already deployed thousands of tons of humanitarian assistance to the Guantanamo naval base in anticipation of a change in Cuba.
The announcement comes at a time of unprecedented health collapse on the Island.
According to data from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), the regime allocated only 1.3% of national investment to the health sector in 2024, compared to 34.7% that went to tourism and hospitality.
The Deputy Minister of Public Health, Carilda Peña García, acknowledged on June 9 during a Round Table discussion on state television that the sector incurred losses exceeding 288 million dollars between March 2024 and February 2025. More than 96,000 patients are awaiting surgeries in Cuba, including over 11,000 children, and infant mortality rose to 9.9 per thousand live births in 2025.
Julio César Alfonso was unequivocal in describing the situation: "The healthcare system is not just in ruins; it practically doesn't exist. Hospital facilities lack all types of supplies, medications, etc., making it impossible to operate."
He added that in his experience working in Haiti and Africa, no country has conditions as deteriorated as those in Cuba.
Doctor Acevedo, for his part, sent a direct message to the Cubans on the Island: “As Cuban doctors, we want to help, and we want that when Cuba is free, it has a truly decent healthcare system. Because when we arrived in this country, we were blind, not knowing what a real system for caring for human health is like.”
Filed under: