First Private Nursing Home in Cuba: Opportunity or Scandal? |
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First Private Nursing Home in Cuba: Opportunity or Scandal?
HAVANA TIMES – In Vedado, Havana, a lodging facility for the elderly opened, managed by a private company, for the first time in decades. TaTamanía! Senior Residence is operated by a Cuban private business of the same name, with bank accounts in the Dominican Republic. It has 10 beds and a range of rates of approximately between $1 and $2 USD per hour, depending on the number of people per room. They have administrative and caregiving staff, including professionals in medicine, nursing, and physical therapy.
The news seemed to definitively shatter a certain notion of equality that until now had been systematically promoted by official discourse, along with the idea that in Cuba “no one is left helpless.”
Back in February, the government officially authorized this type of business, which takes effect on May 21, establishes the requirements for such facilities, whose management had for decades been monopolized by the State.
The minimum monthly price for a bed in a double room at TaTamanía! is $1,080 USD, in a country where most workers earn under $15 USD a month.
Demographic Collapse and a Bankrupt Economy
Cuba is experiencing a clear demographic collapse while its economy continues in free fall (we have had several consecutive years of GDP decline). Our population is aging: the birth rate is below replacement level, and young people are emigrating en masse.
For decades, we have had First World demographics, but today productive capacity is worse than ever. That is reflected in the growing need for care for the “third age” (a euphemism invented by someone who found the words “elderly” or “old” offensive), while Cuban families are losing the ability to provide that care.
Official salaries, and even less so pensions, are not enough to survive day to day. People have to resort to jobs and businesses in the informal market and continue working even at retirement age.
When the new........