Rosenkrantz Discovery Grants Summer 2019: Cuba

Cuba’s healthcare system has an emphasis on preventative and holistic healthcare. The way the country approaches healthcare in order to accomplish these goals is through polyclinics. Essentially, the population is divided into sections based on geographic location and assigned a local physician. This doctor acts as a longterm community primary care physician. The polyclinic is in the doctor’s home which is in the same community as their patients. Always having a doctor nearby and available is a great way to receive holistic care. Cubans are friends with their doctors and trust them to provide quality care to keep them healthy. Since doctors are paid by the state, they are also responsible for keeping tabs on people to report back to the government.

I had the opportunity to interview a woman named Martha who grew up in Old Havana. She lived four blocks away from the nearest polyclinic and just six blocks in the opposite direction from the second closest one. Martha told me all about how polyclinics are essentially a place where patients go to get a basic consultation. Polyclinics also handle routine procedures and non-emergency medical attention such as vaccines, small ailments, vitamins, check-ups. Patients can also see a dentist at certain polyclinics. If a patient has something more pressing that requires specific care, they are taken in an ambulance to their area’s hospital. At the hospital, medical records and clinic history are stored. All of the care, ambulance rides, medications, etc. are free of charge.

The wait times for medical services tend to range from half an hour to two hours depending on how many doctors are available. Doctors will triage and make sure that the most at risk patient is seen first so if a patient comes in for a check up and another three patients come in with a heart attack, a broken leg, and dizziness, respectively, the person waiting for the check up will have to wait a while.

Martha mom is a nurse and so Martha would play at the hospital after school when she was growing up. There was no one stopping her from running around the hospital and sometimes other kids would join her when their parents also couldn’t find anyone to look after them. There is a big difference in the community culture of the polyclinics and hospitals in Cuba and America.

Consultorio Medico de la Familia