American Patients Could Receive Medical Treatment in Cuba

American Patients Could Receive Medical Treatment in Cuba / Juan Juan
Almeida

Juan Juan Almeida, 23 September 2016 — With some urgency the Cuban
government has decided to pretty up the most important medical
facilities in Holguin province. According to sources — it's no secret
but it has not yet been reported by the official media — there will be a
visit on Friday September 30 by a US official. The purpose of the trip
is to inspect clinics and hospitals where presumably Americans will be
allowed to seek medical treatment on the island.

A significant source of Cuba's foreign exchange earnings comes from
leasing its professionals to various healthcare programs overseas.
Nevertheless, reaching an agreement with the Americans would go a long
way to offsetting the reported economic losses from agreements with
Venezuela and Brazil.

The idea is to redirect Cuban medical cooperation to other countries
while increasing healthcare services to foreigners on the island. To
achieve this, the minister of Finance and Pricing, Lina O. Pedraza
Rodriguez, signed Resolution 145/2016 on April 5. It allows doctors to
collect 5% of the fees charged by Servicios Médicos Cubanos S.A. (Cuban
Medical Services, Inc.) to foreign tourists.

The facilities to be inspected are Villa Quinqué, Villa Cocal and the
rooms reserved for foreigners at Vladimir Lenin University Hospital and
Lucía Iñiquez Landín Surgical Clinic.

"The department heads of the various health care centers have been
instructed to make sure nurses and auxiliary personnel remain vigilant
during the visit, even about things like dust on the windows, in case
the visitor swipes a finger to check the hygiene," says one of cleaning
staff at Lenin Hospital.

After the visit, the hope is — at least on the Cuban side — that a
bilateral accord on medical collaboration between the two countries will
be signed.

"We are hoping… the US consul will come here to this center and to Villa
Cocal and will also visit the health tourism wards of Lenin and Lucial
Iñiguez hospitals with an eye towards reaching an agreement to treat
American patients at our facilities," claims an employee at Villa
Quinqué, a center that treats foreign patients with addictions.

For several years some Cuban patients have been sent by the Ministry of
Public Health to hospitals in the United States as part of various
"interconsultation" agreements. A few months ago I met one of them, a
gentleman who travelled to Miami with his wife for eye surgery at the
presitgious Bascom Palmer Eye Clinic.

Source: American Patients Could Receive Medical Treatment in Cuba / Juan
Juan Almeida – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/american-patients-could-receive-medical-treatment-in-cuba-juan-juan-almeida/