Santiago de Cuba.—With increased quality and presence of its product lines, similar to those available on the international market, the revival of production at the RETOMED Medical Equipment Factory, located in this city, confirms the potential of domestic industry in supplying the Cuban public health system.
Inaugurated by Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz 28 years ago, the stability of its engineers, technicians, assembly line workers, mechanics, electricians, painters, welders and carpenters, has enabled diversification with more than a hundred products, led by some 50 medical lines.
A conversation held with Liván Mediaceja González, director of the factory, and lead marketing specialist, Eduardo Hechavarría Hechavarría, reflected these strengths, which have seen the planned annual income of 15 million pesos reached this month. They also pointed to the possibility of further increases were it not for the U.S. blockade.
Just as stimulating as this meeting was the tour of the huge factory premises, during which the line of hospital furniture, including the current production of hundreds of hospital beds and trolleys of different types for several provinces, could be observed. Products wholly comparable to those often imported from developed nations.
In response to the demands of the Ministry of Public Health, stretchers, autopsy tables, trolleys for surgical instruments and medicines, headboards, support benches, stools for surgery, folding screens, IV stands, and chairs for visitors are also produced, among other lines.
In an adjacent building dedicated to laboratory facilities, engineer Camilo Padilla Barrera oversees the specialized assembly of water baths, a product line based on adaptations made to the original design of the supplier of the main component, resulting in a nationally patented product, manufactured exclusively at the factory.
RETOMED’s portfolio also includes dental units, neonatology equipment, and a wide range of products for physiotherapy and rehabilitation, including a universal hand therapy table which has won awards at international fairs, for its use in ensuring a full recovery of this important body part.
This last product line includes stairs with handrails, shoulder wheels, parallel walking bars, wall pulleys, wrist and foot rollers, posture wedges, and posture correcting mirrors, while the logistics furniture line includes lockers, warehouse trolleys, cleaning carts, shelving and baskets for clean and dirty laundry.
Regarding this productive expansion, Mediaceja explained that following the collapse of the socialist camp, a major supplier in this field, RETOMED began producing aluminum carpentry for doors, windows, fixed panels and railings, using aluminum, glass, and PVC, as well as an office furniture line including desks, chairs, filing cabinets, and vertical blinds.
Likewise, the gastronomy furniture line was introduced, including food processing tables, cookers, sinks, hot tables, shelves, and stainless steel insulated food trolleys, which has made a significant contribution to the rehabilitation of the sector in Santiago.
The shortage of resources and supplies in the 1990s was extensive, however, as Hechavarría highlighted, thorough requirements were never overlooked at the plant, the first in south-eastern Cuba to introduce and certify its quality management system, according to ISO 9000 standards.
“Whether medical equipment or not,” he reiterated, “each product must meet the required quality standards, this can not be overlooked or compromised, hence together with staff training, there has been conservation of the best or improvements to our technology, as was recently necessary in paintwork.”
Far from satisfied, Mediaceja added that the excellent workforce, the human capital, could do much more, were it not for the economic blockade imposed by the United States, which limits needed investments in modern technological equipment, and increases costs given the need to purchase components and raw materials in distant markets.
However, she noted that by consolidating every step of their work, the collective could accomplish its essential objective, established July 24, 1988, regarding the production of equipment for the Cuban health system, when, following a proposal by its founders, Fidel approved the name RETOMED, which stands for: “Revolution in all spheres of medicine.”
