Photographs shared this Saturday by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada reveal the condition of the restrooms in the guard area of the Orlando Pantoja Tamayo General Hospital, located in the municipality of Contramaestre, Santiago de Cuba. The toilets are filled with urine, the floors are dirty and flooded with water, along with general signs of neglect.
The images, sent by a citizen who preferred to remain anonymous, show exposed and rusted pipes, damaged tiles, walls with accumulated moisture, and floors so deteriorated that patients and their companions must walk on cardboard placed as an improvised solution.
"These images do not speak of luxury or comfort. They speak of hygiene, upkeep, and dignity for those arriving at a hospital seeking medical attention," wrote Mayeta when posting the complaint on her Facebook profile.
What makes the situation especially serious is that the affected area is the guardhouse, the emergency zone where critically ill individuals and their families come daily, a space where hygiene conditions should be an absolute priority.
El Pantoja Tamayo has accumulated a series of complaints since late 2025. In December of that year, images by photographer Yois Ramos revealed collapsed bathrooms infested with worms, cockroaches, and rats, as well as a lack of medications, water, stretchers, and ambulances.
In April, new allegations pointed to the Intensive Care Unit of the same facility, with a toilet brimming with sewage and floors turned into a muddy mess.
Just two weeks before this new publication, it was reported that pregnant women admitted to the hospital had to carry buckets of water up the stairs due to the lack of supply.
None of these complaints have received an official response from the hospital or the Ministry of Public Health.
The deterioration of the medical facility reflects the broader collapse of the Cuban hospital system. In Santiago de Cuba, the Juan Bruno Zayas hospital has received similar complaints, related to sewage under patients' beds, cockroaches in the delivery room, and rats in the Perinatology area.
Cuba lost more than 30,000 doctors between 2021 and 2024, and by July 2025, only 30% of the essential medicines were available, the government itself acknowledged.
The Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, admitted in February that the government will not resolve the lack of resources in the healthcare sector in the short term.
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