Cali's Hospitals Adapt and Overcome Amid Widespread Devastation Following Massive Colombia Earthquake

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 said 377 people are still missing as the crucial three-day rescue window passes.

Carlos Naranjo, a general practitioner at the hospital, said some 50 percent of the facility was damaged. “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 most of the hospital off-limits, medical staff now have to turn away the vast majority of patients, treating only those who require immediate resuscitation.

The facility is one of four major hospitals 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 in the Pacific region, remains one of the worst-affected areas with at least 96 deaths, 1,224 injuries, and 111 official missing persons.

However, by Wednesday, a combination of effective organisation, volunteers, and national government support stabilized the situation. The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the hospital system had stabilised as patient discharges increased and new admissions dropped, though the red alert remained in effect.

German Escobar, Cali’s public health secretary, explained that the city implemented an expansion zone strategy, utilizing previously unused operating rooms, recovery areas, and temporary field clinics such as those at Clinica Nuestra. While chronic illness patients still face medication access challenges, Escobar noted that the immediate threat of overwhelmed emergency services has been contained.

Civil society organisations and volunteers also played a crucial role. Enrique Zapata, head of logistics at the Cali-based health NGO SARES, highlighted the coordinated efforts of first responders utilizing the Incident Command System. Army veteran and volunteer nurse Ricardo Castillo praised the infinite support and collaborative debris-clearing efforts alongside firefighters, police, and military personnel.

Meanwhile, the disaster has prompted comparisons with neighboring Venezuela, where a magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquake struck weeks prior on June 24, resulting in over 6,000 deaths and widespread criticism over delayed institutional responses. Marianella Herrera of the Caracas-based Venezuelan Health Observatory contrasted the fragmented Venezuelan response with Colombia's coordinated efforts. In Cali, health workers emphasize that the emergency is far from over with dozens still missing.