Pediatric Hospital of Sancti Spíritus: First-world Intensive Care

Gretel, three years old, breathes calmly, “she is already another one”, says her mother while she holds her little hands that insist on letting go. She is almost discharged after suffering from severe pneumonia and several complications.

Before her mother leaves with her in her arms, she will give a thousand thanks for having brought her daughter back to life. After all, “The root of all good grows in the soil of gratitude”, as the poet wrote.

BATTLES FOR LIFE

Nearly 98% of the children in serious and critical condition admitted to the Progressive Intensive Care Unit of the José Martí Pérez Provincial Pediatric Hospital in Sancti Spíritus survive, an indicator that places this ward among those with the best results of its kind in the country.

Dr. Frank Felipe Martín, a second-degree specialist in Pediatrics, in charge of that unit, commented that around 340 patients are treated there every year, most of them reincorporated into society with quality of life.

Among the main causes of admission, said the specialist in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, are sepsis, acute respiratory diseases and home and traffic accidents.

Healthcare-associated infections, known as hospital-acquired infections, have not increased, in spite of the existing limitations with resources and supplies; all this thanks to strict compliance with the measures required in a service of this type, stressed Felipe Martín.

At the beginning of the year, he added, morbidity reported a high incidence due to the increase in cases of serious pneumonia; however, thanks to team work, especially that of the surgeons, nine children were saved after very complex operations.

The specialist also pointed out that the unit has assumed the adequate management of patients undergoing emergency neonatal and neurosurgical surgeries, an indicator that speaks of the high level of specialization of the medical and paramedical personnel working there.

Given the capital repairs currently being carried out in the surgical unit of the Pediatric Hospital of Espiritu, the surgeries are performed at the Camilo Cienfuegos Provincial General Hospital; under these circumstances, the children receive the necessary intensive care, first at this institution, and later in our therapy, explained Felipe Martín.

MORE COMFORT, MORE HEALTH

After a costly investment, the Progressive Intensive Care Unit of the Pediatric Hospital of Sancti Spiritus, the first one founded in the interior of the country, now has better structural conditions, equipment and clinical furniture, and offers coverage to patients not only from Sancti Spiritus, but also from other provinces.

Dr. Dayana Camacho Gazcón, Deputy Director of Medical Assistance at the José Martí Pérez Hospital, said that as a result of these interventions, the Multipurpose Closed Unit was created, with a capacity for 12 beds, with cubicles and independent nursing stations, as well as rooms for doctors and residents; all this with the infrastructure of an integrated service.