Doctor from Las Tunas Resigns After Penalization for Not Prioritizing Hospital Director's Friend

A specialist from the Guillermo Domínguez López Teaching Hospital in Puerto Padre, Las Tunas, resigned from his position after being penalized by the hospital director, Franklin Ojeda Téllez, for not giving preferential treatment to a friend of the director. According to sources close to the doctor, who requested to leave, he was sanctioned for treating this individual the same as any other patient.

Two weeks have passed since the incident, yet no one from the hospital has approached this specialist to understand why he is leaving a job that many Cuban doctors continue out of dedication, despite insufficient salaries. Those close to the young specialist, who had been with the Puerto Padre hospital for four years, express regret that what they see as an abuse of power is ending the career of a professional trained with public funds over a decade—six years to become a general doctor and four more for specialization.

The situation began approximately fifteen days ago when the doctor was called by the Internal Medicine emergency department to assess a patient with lymphangitis. This condition is not considered urgent and has a clear protocol at the hospital, allowing 24 to 48 hours for patient evaluation. However, the patient was not just anyone; he was a friend of the hospital director and a relative of a well-known Communist Party official in Las Tunas.

Arriving at the hospital around 2 PM, the sanctioned specialist informed Internal Medicine that, since it was not an urgent case, he would attend to other priority cases first and review the patient the following morning within the established timeframe. This decision did not sit well with the hospital director, who summoned him to his office with a nursing supervisor the next day. The specialist explained that with only two specialists on staff, there were other urgent patients needing attention, and this was not a medical emergency.

Without any pleasantries, the director accused the doctor of indiscipline. Despite the specialist's explanation that lymphangitis is not an urgent medical condition, the director insisted that, as the one in charge, the patient should have been seen immediately, threatening disciplinary action.

Exhausted and having worked through the previous day without a break, the specialist declared it would be his last day on the job. The director's response was dismissive, saying, "One less angiologist," even though the facility now has just one remaining specialist.

Fifteen days have passed, and no one has inquired why a hospital doctor resigned, despite a patient witness complaining about the incident to Patient Services. For the specialist to consider returning, he requires an apology from the director for what insiders view as an abuse of power. "We've just learned that the patient, being a friend of the director and related to a Communist Party official, receives privileges, including the last available dose of ceftriaxone (rocephin) at the hospital, even though another patient needs it more urgently."

This incident is not isolated. In November, a young Cuban doctor, with just three years post-graduation, publicly shared his painful decision to leave the profession he loves due to the degrading state of public health in Cuba. Recently, a doctor in Santiago de Cuba, overwhelmed by patient deaths due to a lack of medicines and supplies, and the regime's inability to find effective solutions, likened the dire healthcare system—long touted as a government hallmark—to the death of the nation.