Families of sick children wait for over an hour in the emergency room of the Eliseo Noel Caamaño Pediatric Hospital in Matanzas, with no one administering the injections or antibiotics already prescribed by the doctor, according to a report by Julio César Contreras published by 14ymedio on Thursday.
The text includes direct testimonies from companions describing nearly empty hallways of healthcare staff and a closed nursing room. The receptionist explains why the only nurse present is taking so long to appear: "She has been working alone for 72 hours, and we need to understand that she gets tired because she is a human being."
One of the mothers present recounted that she had to send someone to buy acetaminophen outside the hospital because the center did not have the medication. After more than an hour of waiting after the medical consultation, her four-year-old son still had not received the injection to reduce his fever. "We haven't been able to resolve this because the nurse has disappeared," she said to the media.
Another companion, whose daughter was waiting to receive a previously prescribed antibiotic, summarized the situation with indignation: "It's hard to believe that no nurse shows up in this hospital to give an injection."
A third mother walked through the second floor of the pediatric ward in search of help and returned empty-handed: "I didn't find anyone who could assist us." Faced with the prospect of repeating this situation throughout the entire treatment week, she was already considering another option: to locate a familiar nurse to come to her home, even if she had to pay him something.
The report does not include a response from the hospital administration to these specific testimonies.
Just two days before the publication of the report, the director of the center, Dr. Anaelis Santana Álvarez, denied that the hospital was overwhelmed and stated that it was operating normally, with an occupancy rate of less than 90% of its 178 available beds.
In February, due to the energy contingency and fuel shortage, health sector officials in Matanzas took urgent measures to ensure a minimum level of care, such as the reorganization of nursing brigades with work shifts ranging from 72 hours to seven days.
In October 2025, the Eliseo Noel Caamaño Pediatric Hospital reached 100% occupancy during simultaneous outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya, and oropouche, which necessitated the establishment of an annex with 100 beds at the University of Medical Sciences of Matanzas.
The shortage of nurses is nationwide. According to data from the National Office of Statistics and Information published at the end of 2025, between 2021 and 2024, Cuba lost around 77,522 active healthcare personnel, including doctors, nurses, technicians, and dentists.
Low salaries, poor working conditions, and a lack of resources to care for patients have led to a massive exodus of professionals to other sectors or abroad.
Cuba lost more than 30,000 doctors between 2021 and 2024, and the active nursing staff decreased by 17.3% during the same period, leaving a total of 71,948 individuals.
In August, the new salaries approved by the government for the sector came into effect. According to the from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, specialist nurses earn 7,045 CUP, while basic nurses receive 4,755 CUP.
The gap with the actual cost of living is staggering: independent economists estimate that meeting real basic needs exceeds 100,000 CUP per month, according to an analysis published in July.
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