Holguín.—50 years after its creation, the Vladimir Ilich Lenin Hospital continues to make scientific contributions that demonstrate the potential of the Cuban public health system, capable of guaranteeing healthcare to patients of all kinds and against all odds.
In mid-October last year, by way of an emergency caesarean, Martha de la Caridad and Yordán de Jesús, twins conceived through IVF practiced by specialists at the Territorial Center for Assisted Reproduction based at the hospital, were born.
This time round, credit went to the skilled team headed by Dr. Eloy Verdecia, which attended the parents and discovered the pregnancy last March, which was monitored until the delivery.
Maryelis Gondres Mora’s successful labor joins many other high moments of the institution, such as December 24, 1973, when the hospital was the setting for a milestone in the history of Latin American medicine, with Dr. Rafael Vázquez Hernández, leading a multidisciplinary team, successfully performing the separation of Siamese twins.
The prestige of the doctors at the Lenin is recognized across various regions of the world. On April 21, 2013, Dr. Osmel García Hernández participated, alongside Angolan doctors, in the first separation of Siamese twins in the African country.
CHALLENGING CONFORMITY
The achievements described above would be sufficient to rouse the professional pride of any medical establishment; however, this collective is accustomed to dominating new heights before quickly embarking upon further endeavors.
As such, Dr. Julio Yamel Verdecia Reyes, director general of the hospital, explains, today they can state that over five decades the institution has undertaken a total of more than 11 million consultations and over 9 million external consultations. Similarly, over 2,290,000 surgeries have been performed.
“At this center there have been more than 7,000 births a year, making it the most complex maternity hospital in the country, but we maintain a highly encouraging infant mortality rate. Last year this was 2.7 per thousand live births and in the course of the current year we are around 1.6.”
Technological advancement has not been neglected either. The doctor notes that the Center for Assisted Reproduction has cutting edge equipment, providing services from Camagüey to Guantánamo. The same applies to the Oncology Center, also providing coverage at the regional level, in which a modern gamma camera that facilitates diagnosis, and radiotherapy equipment to fight cancerous conditions, were recently installed.
Since 2013, the hospital has seen a process of reconditioning of its facilities. Among the most recent works are an ecological dual chamber incinerator, the repairing of part of the electrical system and the waterproofing of 3,000 square meters of roofing.
By the end of December, the 2B and Infectious Diseases rooms (the latter part of the internal medicine service) will be fully renovated, as well as the laundry area and the kitchen and canteen.
“For 2016, investments of 3,081,000 pesos are envisaged, as well as repair and maintenance activities amounting to 1,200,000 pesos. There is a master plan that outlines the construction works through 2020 with the idea of leaving the center as close as possible to a hotel, to ensure the comfort of patients, relatives and more than 400 physicians, the large number of nurses and other members of the workforce.”
The works carried out so far, and those to come, are closely followed by the main political authorities and provincial government. This is demonstrated, the doctor adds, in the systematic checks that are undertaken, in which it is emphasized that the works should be finished to meet the high standards that the population of Holguín deserve.
