He never settles for a “no.” Tireless and unstoppable, Dr. Rolando Montero Díaz, director of the Dr. Guillermo Fernández Hernández-Baquero Dermatological Specialized Hospital, seems to ignore the challenges when it comes to caring for others.
“The skin is the largest organ that the human body has, and it is the first barrier between the outside world and the internal organism,” he tells Granma, after being granted the status of Hero of Labor of the Republic of Cuba, awarded for merits. extraordinary achievements in creative work.
Currently, the hospital center he directs is a reference in the National Leprosy Program and for the treatment of diabetic foot with Heberprot-p, a medication that promotes the healing of ulcers and prevents amputation by 95%.
The excellence of the institution reflects the efforts of its Director, who has always been equally dedicated. After graduating in 1991 as a Doctor of Medicine, Montero Díaz specialized in Dermatology, while at the same time dedicating the first ten years of his working life to the Health services of the Ministry of the Interior (Minint).
Throughout his more than 30-year career, he would hold various positions, including the management of five large hospitals in Havana, including the Freyre de Andrade Surgical Clinic, the Julio Trigo López University Hospital and the Miguel Enríquez Hospital.
He also carried out international missions in different countries, and was in charge of the Henry Reeve medical brigade.
–How much has Dermatology influenced your medical experience?
–Cuba is a hot country, the characteristics of the climate cause there to be many skin conditions, and this has trained me as a comprehensive doctor, not only in the branch of Dermatology, but for having directed surgical and general clinical hospitals in the I have been in charge of professionals from the entire range of specialties that exist in Public Health.
«They say that management is converting resources into results, therefore, I convert patient care into quality.
«After my return from the mission in Timor Leste, I was given this task of directing the Dermatology of Cuba.
«Here we have the Mariana Grajales treatment room, a national and international reference, with very good results and with several lines of research, in which patients with diabetic foot ulcers, those with skin cancer and patients with psoriasis are treated. .
“In addition, patients receive electrical stimulation for the healing of complex ulcers, dermatological conditions with Zeolites ointments, and angiology with Ozone.”
–In the case of the community, so closely linked to the hospital, how has the institution contributed to the health of the population?
–The facility is far from the Health institutions, as it is on the outskirts of the city, in the last kilometers of Havana and the same distance from Mayabeque and Artemisa. However, since I arrived we have done a very strong job in interacting with community actors and the residents themselves.
«For example, here the center has its functions, but the activity that we carry out gives us the possibility of an interrelation with the doctors and with the Health directorates of the municipality, and the patients of El Rincón do not have to go far to other hospitals. to have an ultrasound or to use some other diagnostic means such as the laboratory.
«We also carry out many activities with the community schools; and at this moment we are working on a project that began as a comprehensive agricultural project, with cultivation houses, orchards and organoponic plants of medicinal plants, in which, through the Local Production Center (cpl), we are going to produce the medicines that the hospital needs , the community and perhaps also the municipality.
–Do you combine your role as Hospital Director with leadership in the agricultural project?
–We had a lot of land, which was not being used, and we devised, between the Ministry of Public Health (Minsap) and the Ministry of Agriculture (Minag), to carry out an agricultural project that would improve the nutrition of our workers and the community. .
“We did it between our hospital center and two socialist state companies, the Metropolitan Agriculture Company of Havana and the Bacuranao Agricultural Company.”
–Does it also promote integration with traditional medicine?
–In our hospital it is something fundamental. We use a large number of medicines from useful medicinal plants for different skin conditions. Acupuncture, ozone therapy, laserpuncture (with low-power laser) and other modalities related to patient rehabilitation are also used.
«In our hospital, natural and traditional medicine is used in a large percentage with very effective, efficient and efficient results in order to improve the patient’s health status. Together with BioCubaFarma and the Local Production Center, medicines will be processed for the community and the municipality.
–What is your vision for the future of the Dermatological Hospital and the agricultural project, in terms of innovation and sustainability?
–For the future, we are already working with BioCubaFarma so that the most innovative research can be implemented with patients in the different phases.
“From the actions we do, done well, we can then achieve a higher quality of life for the population we serve, which is also what we owe, because we are health providers, public providers.”
