Young health-care providers at Havana’s Cardiology Institute describe a double-whammy of desperation in their work and private lives.
They’re anxious about what the future holds since a U.S. oil embargo in January led to dramatic fuel shortages in Cuba, along with soaring food prices and nationwide power outages.
These factors have made their life-saving work in the hospital dramatically harder.
“Since I was born, this is the most difficult time, without any doubt,” Jose Carlos, a 31-year-old cardiology resident, told CBC News. “Because everything is hitting us: energy, resources, transportation.”
Cuba is internationally known for the quality of its health care and has sent groups of medical workers to assist in other countries. Trump is now pressuring countries to pull out of these agreements.
Cuba’s doctors, nurses and lab technicians are facing hard times nationwide. At the institute, there are surgery delays, shortages of medication and not enough pacemakers for those who need them.
The story is worse outside Havana, because supplies can’t reach these areas without fuel, while blackouts last longer in more rural parts of the country.
“We do everything with love to assist people, but the reality right now is that we don’t have enough resources,” said Carlos.
For example, he described long waits for surgeries to put in stents.
“The wait can be one to three months,” he said. “It depends on the moment. But we keep the patients here until we can do the procedure.”
Julio Cesar Rodriguez Cardona, the general director of health for the Cerros municipality of Havana, told CBC News that the blockade has hit the national health system very hard, affecting the transport of patients, supplies and food.
“It also affects the generation of electricity. And we maintain vital services … thanks to that electricity,” he said.
“It’s scary just to think about it. An intensive therapy room without being able to keep the monitors, the fans [on],” he said.
The difficulties of just getting around
The challenges at work are compounded by the struggles of day-to-day life in Cuba, which include finding a way to get to work when public transit has been crippled by fuel shortages.
Doctors like Carlos are paid the equivalent of less than $40 Cdn a month while the price of food has skyrocketed. A dozen eggs now goes for nearly $10.
“Doctors’ pay is just for basic things. It doesn’t allow you to buy many things in the supermarket or go to a restaurant or a hotel, or things like that,” said Carlos.
Despite these challenges, he wants to stay in Cuba, because his life is here. Both his parents and his wife, who is an OBGYN doctor, live here.
“The main cause of everything is [the] U.S.A.,” he said. ” I have no doubt about that.”
Paolo, a 27-year-old cardiology resident who did not want his last name used for fear of repercussions, has considered leaving Cuba.
Talking to CBC News in front of the hospital, he noted his favourite author is Alice Munro and that he thinks about working in Canada. Spain and Italy are a couple of other countries he’d be interested in moving to, if he could.
When asked if he would move to the U.S., Paolo responded, “I would like very much to work in the United States, even if Trump is president.”
“The situation in the world is very complicated,” he said. “The situation makes me so nervous. And the situation in this country is very, very difficult. Very hard and chaotic.”
He said that while the U.S. administration of Donald Trump “makes the situation more difficult,” the “Cuban government is also … a very big problem.”
Even before the U.S. oil embargo, Cuba was in crisis. The country was faltering partly because of a decades-long U.S. economic embargo, crumbling public services and the fact that many Cubans left the country.
Political repression only aggravated those problems.
“Many patients have serious conditions like cardio infractions, and most of the time, there is not enough drugs, workers or care for them,” said Paolo.
There are three levels of hospital care in Cuba: primary-care clinics, secondary-care hospitals and then specialized institutes like this one. The conditions are a little better in these specialized institutes.
Iriana, a 24-year-old lab technician who also didn’t want her last name used, said facilities in other parts of the country are far worse off, while resources at her hospital are slightly better.
In the meantime, Iriana said she’s not seen anyone die at the Havana Cardiology Institute while waiting for care.
“Most of the patients say we are heroes,” she said.
Still, she said doctors and nurses aren’t paid enough to keep up with the rising cost of food and gas, and some have recently left the profession altogether to find better-paying work.
A couple of Iriana’s colleagues joined her outside the hospital to speak to CBC News. Rosa, 24, and Raul, 35, are nurses and also didn’t want their last names used.
They both wondered about the future.
“We don’t know what will happen, so we just keep working,” said Rosa.
When asked about the situation, Raul answered simply.
“Oof, what a question. I just try to make the patients comfortable.”
