Three dialysis units and 42 equipment in unique conditions put tension during treatment of 150 renal patients in Yaracuy, while waiting for the promise of a new headquarters with 30 modern machines
In Yaracuy, 150 renal patients struggle to have an optimal treatment that gives them better health conditions while enduring electric cuts and absence of specialists. With only three operational dialysis units (two in San Felipe and one in Bruzual) and 42 machines with many years of use, the attention is insufficient to guarantee a stable treatment.
The journalistic team of Comparison.infoin a regional report, he managed to interview members of the Civil Association of Renal Patients Pablo Navea who warn that the crisis deepened after the closure of the Independence Unit in 2023. Since then, the patients are concentrated at the Central Hospital of San Felipe, where 15 new machines were received as the last endowment. There have been no subsequent repositions.
Electrical interruptions force to reduce hemodialysis sessions from three to two hours, affecting the quality of the treatment. In the Yaracuy dialysis unit, the most busy, complaints include leaks, failures in the osmosis plant, lack of electric plant, misunderstanding furniture and even the presence of rodents.
“Machine failures are a problem that cannot be expected. Although maintenance has improved, our lives depend on equipment that is frequently damaged,” said Esperanza Rodríguez, president of the association and renal patient for six years.
To this precariousness is added the lack of specialists. In some centers, a nephrologist attends just every 15 days, and the rest of the time patients are treated by general doctors, against what is established by the official hemodialysis regulations in Venezuela. Between 2020 and 2023, the protests of renal patients showed the neglect, motivated by damaged teams and absence of maintenance.
They want better transport
More than half of patients live in rural municipalities and depends on public transport to reach their therapies. Many must take up to two buses per route, with an urban passage of 0.20 dollars, spending difficult to hold three times a week.
“Leaving dialysis leaves us weak, and still some have to walk long distances,” said Ruth Garrido, renal patient, who recalled the case of a partner who came in a wheelchair from Las Mercedes and died without adequate transport.
A promise on the way
In August 2025, the governor of Yaracuy, Leonardo Intoci, announced the construction of a new headquarters in the ambulatory Dr. Manuel Alcalá Medina (Independence Municipality), equipped with 30 latest technology machines, which would make it the largest unit of the country’s midfielder.
In parallel, the Regional Government initiated rehabilitation work in the Yaracuy unit, with waterproofing, improvements in the osmosis plant and room remodeling. Patients were also incorporated into medical care programs and fistula placement.
These advances represent a partial relief, but do not solve the structural crisis.
“Our hope is in that new headquarters and that health programs are maintained over time,” Rodríguez insisted.
While the project materializes, patients continue to be exposed to deteriorated equipment, to the lack of adequate conditions and without access to transplants, since the system of procurement of organs and tissues (SPOT) has been still paralyzed for more than eight years in Venezuela.
*Also read: public dialysis units are insufficient to attend to kidney patients
*Journalism in Venezuela is exercised in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments arranged for the punishment of the word, especially the laws “against hatred”, “against fascism” and “against blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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