After the tense and complex hours experienced a few days ago, Dr. Julio Yamel Verdecia Reyes, General Director of Health in Holguin, informed, in an interview to Radio Angulo digital, about the main actions and tasks of the first order to maintain the vitality of the health services and to resume daily activities this October 24.
Director of Health in Holguín, Cuba
What tasks are priorities for the health sector in Holguin province?
“First of all I extend my gratitude to our people for the discipline shown in these days, and for the Health sector they have been very difficult days of hard work, uninterrupted hours of work to be able to maintain the services. The provincial, municipal hospitals and our polyclinics remained vital providing services continuously, in different conditions, but with vitality.
“From now on we have a very important task, we must concentrate on a group of tasks to continue giving vitality and continuity to the services. First we made an evaluation of all the patients who were hospitalized and discharged as many as possible. We also evaluated those patients discharged due to the contingency that could return to their homes. As of this Thursday, October 24, outpatient consultations will resume, as planned, with all the usual elective tasks.
“We are securing everything related to the emergency. We are going to guide the work on the engineering system, revisions and maintenance to all our power generators that worked for uninterrupted hours; some hospitals and health areas more than others but suffered an overload. Day by day we conciliate with the Cupet colleagues referred to the completion of all those generator sets with coverage of less than 72 hours or those that concern us, because they are located in communities or more remote sites.
“We continue working in search of a better infant mortality rate and in giving sustainability to tasks related to hygiene and epidemiology.”
Maintaining the sustainability of the hygienic-epidemiological situation is essential, how do you ensure compliance?
“We have to focus on seeking compliance with everything that is regulated in our population and in our own work teams to prevent outbreaks related to the issue of food and water safety. People can go to our pharmacies, to our warehouses to buy sodium hypochlorite, and we are currently increasing production to take it to the most affected municipalities. All pharmacies have coverage of this product. Therefore, we ask the population to be very disciplined and to take all hygienic measures”.
How was the work coordinated during the energy emergency to maintain the vitality of the health services?
“We must recognize the efforts made by workers in the sector. In the hospital network a fundamental role was played because towards these municipal and provincial institutions the largest number of patients attended was directed, in search of greater resoluteness.
“We must thank everyone for the great and heroic work done. We must add in these congratulations to the Primary Health Care professionals, the family doctors and nurses. We were sleepless, in the search for our people to feel supported, looking for satisfaction. The objective shortages are present, but we could not allow the health to be ready to assist”.
“I must thank the support provided by our Ministry of Health, which sent a group of resources and supplies that were of concern to the province, including syringes, hemodialysis concentrates so that this vital activity would not stop”.
“The political will of our party and government made it possible for us to be functional. They made every effort to ensure that Public Health was a priority at this stage. With electric fluid as long as it could be sustained in the hospitals, with the timely notice to the institutions to disconnect from the electric system and start the generators.”
“A commendable job was done to make the gear work with everything that has to do with transportation, so that there would be no lack of water to the three large provincial hospitals, the transportation of Taxis Cuba in order to ensure the transfer of hemodialysis patients.
“I reiterate our gratitude to our people for trusting us, that gives us more strength to continue together with them resisting such difficult moments.
It is in these exceptional situations that the value of the medical and service personnel who work tirelessly in the health sector is demonstrated. May they also receive recognition for their performance.
- Holguin Present at the 5th UNIANDES Scientific Congress - 25 de April de 2025
- Polio Vaccination Campaign to Immunize Children in Holguin - 22 de April de 2025
- UCMHo Distinction for Education Awards to Lenin Professionals - 13 de April de 2025