Even amid a complex economic context, in 2025 the province of Las Tunas performed 26,304 surgeries out of a planned total of approximately 33,000. The figures speak not only of patients who continue to wait for solutions to specific health problems, but also of the intention to save human lives at any cost.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- The Ernesto Guevara de la Serna Provincial Hospital and the Mártires de Las Tunas Pediatric Hospital met their major surgery targets (both elective and emergency), and internal strategies were implemented in some hospitals to perform surgeries despite a significant shortage of resources.
Dr. Giraldo Antonio González Zuazo, department head at the Hospital Administration, stated that the previous period presented major challenges for the sector, where they had to deal with widespread failure to meet the surgical plan, resulting in 6,196 surgeries not being performed.
González Zuazo emphasized that the greatest limitations were faced by minimally invasive surgery, primarily due to a lack of resources, but all surgical activity was marked by instability in supplies, consumables, reagents, and medications.
He noted that power outages, especially in southern municipalities with unsafe generators, also complicated the situation and left the operating room at the “Guevara” Hospital’s ophthalmology center out of service for about four months.
The doctor clarified that the incidence of arboviruses in recent months further depleted supplies, a fact that ultimately impacted surgical activity. Added to all of the above was the lack of specialized anesthesia staff at the Jobabo and Amancio hospitals.
OUTLOOK FOR 2026
With the certainty that the current year will be marked by resource shortages and energy instability as a backdrop, the Hospital Administration has set out to increase minimally invasive surgery to optimize scarce resources.
González Zuazo reaffirmed the commitment to ensuring the holding of surgical planning meetings for timely scheduling based on available resources.
The goal for 2026 is to achieve four surgeries per operating room to optimize the use of operating rooms, prioritize appointments for patients on the waiting list, and oncology patients. And to support this, gradually fill the staffing gaps for specialists (surgeons, anesthesiologists, orthopedic surgeons) and information management (statisticians) in municipalities with shortages.
We need to focus more on the work. Despite all the resource shortages this year, Guevara Hospital and the Pediatric Hospital were able to devise internal strategies to keep operations running,” the doctor explained.
Resuming ophthalmic surgery is one of the major challenges facing the sector. Similarly, they are striving to maintain all surgical services and deploy young, qualified personnel to institutions where these specialties are scarce but have the potential to thrive.
