While in Cuba, I had the distinct misfortune (though perhaps a fortunate opportunity) of visiting urgent care. Prior to visiting Cuba, I had heard of Cuba’s world-class healthcare system. For more info on that, read this Huffington Post article.
MY OWN PATIENT JOURNEY THROUGH THE CUBAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
My patient journey begins upon waking up at 5 am in the morning, unable to feel my lip and a heavy eyelid. Concerned, I looked in the mirror to self-examine only to find an ogre staring right back at me. An allergic reaction had taken over my right eye-lid and lower right lip. After trying my own hotel remedies (cold towel compress and anti-itch cortisone wipe), I could see that the swelling was not going down. Around 5:30, I woke up my husband (@amklearns), who fortunately was also on the Cuba study tour with me, and we went to the lobby to inquire about health services. We were informed that the hotel doctor does not come in until 9 am, and that we could visit the hospital about 15 minutes away via taxi. So, 10 minute slater, a bright blue old American car arrived to take me to urgent care (see image above).
We pulled up to the hospital, and our taxi driver helped us show us to urgent care. I approached a sleeping front desk attendant, pointed to my eye and lip, and showed her my passport. After waiting in an empty waiting room for about 10 minutes, I was then called by a white-haired, friendly-looking doctor. Fortunately, I have some conversational Spanish skills, so I was able to tell the doctor about my demographics, my ailments, the condition of my face, what foods I had eaten, etc. After the consult, he prescribed an injection of hydrocortisone and cortisone. I went back to the waiting room for only a couple minutes until a nurse called me up so that I could get my injection administered. She explained what would happen and took out the requisite aseptic equipment and drug solution. She cuffed my arm with a rubberband, cleaned up my arm with an alcohol swab, found a vein, and inserted a needle with syringe. While the solution was going into my veins, I closed my eyes and wondered whether I the needle was actually sterile… too late for that (see image above). I went back in the waiting room for another few minutes until I was instructed to the finance window where I would pay my bill. Nervously waiting to hear how many CUCs this visit would cost, I was pleasantly surprised to see a bill of 45 CUCs, or the equivalent of $45 USD. This amount is probably equivalent to the coinsurance/copay for the same services provided in the United States! I was in and out of urgent care in an hour.
Within a few hours, my lip went back to a normal size, and by the end of the day, my eye was also back to normal. Now that the trip is over, and I’m healthy and back in the US, I can happily share this exciting patient journey through the Cuban healthcare system. I even kept my healthcare bill as a unique souvenir!
