November 27th has a special meaning for the health sector in Camagüey, especially for those who work in the current Amalia Simoni Argilagos General Teaching Hospital, since on a similar date in 1959, the Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro inaugurated, with this facility, the first hospital created by the Revolution in the territory.

Initially, the center was only dedicated to treating patients with tuberculosis. It then had a workforce of 133 workers and a capacity of 225 beds; capacity that increased to 420 beds in 1961. The original building, which began to be built in June 1957 with a budget of three million pesos, constitutes one of the most representative buildings of the modern movement in the city.

Already in the 1970s, the success of Cuban medicine in the fight against tuberculosis made many hospitals not only dedicate themselves to treating this disease. Thus, in 1975 the Amalia Simoni Hospital became a General Hospital.

Since then it continues to expand its services, it also becomes a Teaching Hospital and its structure undergoes constant expansion.

The Amalia Simoni hospital became one of the most prestigious centers in the province, and its excellence in the sector led them to obtain the distinction of National Vanguard on several occasions, as well as dissimilar awards.

The workers of this center do not forget that November 27th, 1959; they even treasure and display the sofa where the Commander in Chief rested that day.

Today the Amalia Simoni General Teaching Hospital has the mission of serving more than one million people from Camaguey and to fulfill this important task it has more than 70 outpatient consultations, 5 operating rooms, 12 hospitalization rooms and provides a total of 15 Hospital services. His collective has worked tirelessly in the fight against COVID-19, aware of the vital importance of their human work.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García