In Calabria, Italy, the region faces an extraordinary shortage of healthcare professionals. The regional government, now led by a right-wing coalition, has proposed a bold plan: to bring in Cuban doctors to fill vacancies. The aim is to recruit up to 500 doctors to strengthen staffing in hospitals that are stretched thin.
Calabria’s governor, Roberto Occhiuto, announced the decision after discussions with the Cuban government and other regional leaders. He emphasized that hospitals across Italy are grappling with too few doctors and that even with nationwide recruitment efforts, shortages persist. The question he posed was pragmatic: should hospitals close or reduce emergency services, or pursue a coordinated recruitment strategy with international partners?
Occhiuto noted that an agreement with Cuba would allow up to 497 doctors from various specialties to arrive in the region starting next September. Italian media indicate that Cuban doctors will be paid a salary, with travel expenses covered by Calabria’s administration, as part of the initiative to keep essential services operational.
help in times of covid
Over the years, Cuban medical personnel have worked in numerous countries, including Italy. Cuban doctors gained prominence during the early days of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Italy, when Lombardy faced severe impacts. The Cuban government was among the first to deploy doctors to Lombardy, and later the Piedmont region also welcomed Cuban medical teams to support overwhelmed facilities.
Italy has faced repeated strains on health personnel, with examples across other regions that sought unconventional solutions to shortages. In 2019, Veneto and Molise explored plans to deploy retired doctors into public hospitals, a strategy intended to bolster staffing, though legal hurdles limited its effectiveness.
The shortage is partly tied to post-2007 economic pressures that reduced public health investments and sparked emigration among young doctors seeking higher wages abroad, particularly in countries like Germany. The Italian education system has also constrained supply, with limited admissions to specialized programs each year, which has long-term implications for workforce depth.
Public reaction to the Cuban proposal has been mixed. Some local doctors in Calabria voiced concerns about burnout and insufficient financial recognition, arguing that local professionals should be supported and rewarded. Others indicated that such extraordinary measures should be reserved for the most dire circumstances. The Anaao Assomed doctors’ union suggested the priority should be to attract and retain Italian doctors first.
calabrian drama
Calabria’s situation has been described as especially challenging. Since 2010, state oversight has aimed to address mismanagement and organized-crime issues that have affected regional health institutions. The region currently faces significant patient mobility costs, with some estimates indicating hundreds of millions of euros annually spent on treating residents in facilities elsewhere in Italy to ensure access to care.
In certain towns, travel for clinicians has been difficult. Locri, for example, has faced repeated recruitment challenges, with some doctors reluctant to relocate. This underscores the tension between urgent regional needs and the realities of medical workforce distribution. The history of the region, including the assassination of a prominent doctor and local politician in Locri years ago, remains part of the broader narrative of Calabria’s health system and its ongoing reforms.
Ultimately, Calabria’s approach highlights how a region can pursue cross-border partnerships to safeguard essential health services while broader national efforts continue to address underlying structural challenges in healthcare staffing and funding, underscoring the complexity of delivering care in areas with long-standing systemic pressures.