Cali, Colombia – At the University Hospital of the Valle Evaristo Garcia, health workers in blue scrubs moved briskly through the courtyard on Wednesday, beneath a white facade split by deep fissures. The rear of the hospital, a major public medical centre in Colombia’s Cali, had partially collapsed on Monday after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck the west of the country, killing at least 273 people and injuring at least 3,800 others. The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management reported that 377 people remain missing as the critical three-day rescue window draws to a close.
Carlos Naranjo, a general practitioner at the hospital, estimated that 50 percent of the facility sustained damage. “There is extensive structural damage; some walls are no longer stable, some ceilings have collapsed, and it is still dangerous to walk through,” he told Al Jazeera. With large sections of the hospital now off-limits, medical staff are forced to turn away the vast majority of patients, prioritizing only those in life-threatening conditions.
The University Hospital is one of four major medical facilities that were damaged and forced out of operation on Monday, alongside six damaged clinics. Amid an influx of injured people, city authorities warned that public hospitals in Cali, home to two million people, were at 100 percent capacity and declared a “red alert for hospitals.” Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city and the capital of the Valle del Cauca province, remains one of the worst-affected areas. At least 96 people died in the city, while 1,224 others were injured and 111 are officially missing. Authorities report that 45 buildings collapsed, while 832 others suffered significant structural damage.
However, by Wednesday—less than 72 hours into the crisis—a combination of effective organization, a surge of volunteers, and support from the national government led local health officials to describe the situation as stable. The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed on Wednesday that the “hospital system has stabilised as patients have been discharged and the number of new admissions has decreased.” Despite this progress, the UN noted that “a red alert remains declared for hospitals in the city.”
The city managed to avert a total collapse of its health infrastructure by enacting a strategy to boost the capacity of institutions that were less affected by the seismic event. German Escobar, Cali’s public health secretary, explained that the city implemented a plan to create “expansion zones,” largely in and around existing functional hospitals. These measures include utilizing operating rooms that were previously inactive and repurposing recovery areas—where patients typically go after surgery—to accommodate the surge in trauma cases.
In other facilities, such as the private Clinica Nuestra, expansion zones have been established through temporary field clinics. The hospital was forced to relocate patients following a partial collapse, and the scene remains grim; an ambulance lies crushed by fallen debris, with a buckled “Emergency Room” sign hanging loosely above it. “The situation is now stable,” Escobar stated, though he acknowledged that stress remains on the healthcare system, particularly for patients with chronic illnesses who are struggling to access routine care.
“Unless another major mass event occurs that overwhelms emergency and inpatient services, the system should be fully stabilised,” Escobar added. He credited the recovery of the city’s hospital system to successful coordination between government officials, relief agencies, and the rapid mobilization of civil society organizations. Relief efforts have relied heavily on the vast resources and manpower provided by local groups.
Enrique Zapata, head of logistics at the Cali-based health NGO SARES, described the chaotic first moments after the earthquake while standing in front of a crowded medical tent at the foot of the Vanessa apartment complex. As rescuers hurried past carrying buckets and shovels, Zapata noted that the community response was immediate. “Everyone first checked on their neighbors,” he said, highlighting the grassroots solidarity that defined the early hours of the disaster.
The regional crisis has also sparked broader discussions regarding institutional preparedness. Health expert Herrera contrasted the Colombian response with that of neighboring Venezuela, noting that while the Venezuelan population showed great solidarity, the institutional response was fragmented. “In one country, there is clearly a much more coordinated and coherent response, while in the other—which is, of course, Venezuela—the response is much more fragmented from an institutional standpoint,” Herrera said. She blamed inadequate leadership for the poor response to the tragedy in Venezuela, stating that the lack of organization exacerbates the crisis.
Venezuelan authorities have rejected these criticisms, dismissing them as the product of “media laboratories.” Meanwhile, in Colombia, the focus remains on the ongoing search and rescue operations. With dozens still missing in Cali and more than 500 officially recorded as missing nationwide, health workers emphasize that the emergency is unlikely to ease anytime soon. As the recovery continues, volunteers like Castillo emphasize the importance of collective action, noting, “Every little helps.”
The logistical challenges remain immense, as the city balances the immediate needs of the earthquake victims with the ongoing requirements of the general population. The structural integrity of the city’s remaining hospitals is being monitored hourly, and engineers are working alongside medical staff to ensure that any further aftershocks do not result in additional casualties within the medical facilities themselves.
As the sun sets on the third day of the disaster, the resilience of Cali’s medical community continues to be tested. The transition from emergency triage to long-term stabilization is underway, but the scars on the city’s infrastructure—and the emotional toll on its people—will take significant time to heal. The government has promised continued support for the reconstruction of the damaged clinics, but for now, the priority remains the survival of those still trapped and the recovery of the injured.
Enrique Zapata, head of logistics at Cali-based health NGO SARES, stood in front of a crowded medical tent at the foot of the Vanessa apartment – a six-storey building that collapsed on August 10.
“Everyone first checked on their family, and after that, all of us who are first responders, we immediately got in touch with the organisations we belong to,” said the medic.
“Even though your body often tells you, ‘I want to rest’, the adrenaline and the desire to help keep you from doing so,” explained Zapata.
They are able to treat only those who require immediate resuscitation.
Beyond protocol, rescue workers were spurred to work through the night by a sense of duty.
Ricardo Castillo, an army veteran volunteering as a nurse at another collapse site in Cali, described a similar mobilisation.
“The work of the people in charge of all this has been spectacular,” he said.
Behind him, volunteers worked alongside firefighters, police and military personnel among the shattered concrete and metal rebar, removing debris in buckets by passing them hand to hand along chains of rescuers.
The quake’s timing and location – just weeks after magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck neighbouring Venezuela on June 24 – has prompted comparisons between the two countries’ responses.
The scale of the disaster in Venezuela was far greater than in Colombia, with more than 6,000 killed.
Venezuela’s government has faced sharp criticism over its response, with survivors saying help never arrived in the crucial first hours and days.
Source: Aljazeera
