The earthquakes in Venezuela have exposed a severely under-resourced and ill-prepared healthcare system

Twin earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24, 2026, causing severe damage in Caracas and the nearby coastal city of La Guaira. At the time of publication, 3,685 people had been declared dead, and more than 30,000 people were still missing.

Dr. Hermes Flores and Dr. Zeina Hanoush are doctors who trained in Venezuela, then immigrated to the United States, where they now teach medicine. In a joint interview, they spoke about the earthquake and its aftermath, global aid efforts and the need to reform Venezuela’s health care system.

Dr. Hannoush, you were in Caracas during the earthquake. Can you describe what it was like?

Zeina Hannoush: I definitely felt that way. It was very intense and long. I was visiting my aunt and uncle who live 15 minutes from where I live. I was standing at the exit of the building when the plane hit. Just two seconds ago, I would have been in the elevator.

So I was already on the street when I felt the ground shaking. I walked to where I didn’t see any trees or buildings and started yelling at the people in the buildings, “Get down, get down,” because I started hearing dishes crashing and people screaming.

The specific area of ​​Caracas I was in did not suffer as much damage as La Guaira. I immediately went back to my in-laws’ house in another part of Caracas, because that’s where my kids were, and all I wanted to know was that my kids were safe.

Then there were aftershocks throughout the entire week. We would be sleeping at night, and we would feel the bed shaking, so we would wake up in the middle of the night and try to go out into the street.

What were each of you doing in the aftermath of this disaster?

Hermes Flores: I came to the United States to complete my postgraduate medical training. I had planned to return to Venezuela, but as my training in public health and endocrinology was finishing in 2002, there was an attempted coup. I later joined in denouncing data censorship and healthcare shortcomings in Venezuela, and was eventually blacklisted. But I have found ways to collaborate with my colleagues in Venezuela and others in the diaspora around the world.

Since the earthquakes, I have reached out to a large network of colleagues to help with relief efforts and send aid. These are people in Venezuela and the United States, primarily around the University of Miami. There’s a great team there, as well as the Venezuelan American Medical Association. This allowed me to participate and provide some support to many affected people.

What does the Venezuelan healthcare system look like under normal circumstances?

Flores: There was an article published in the Lancet earlier this year, apparently before the earthquake, that reflected that less than 10% of Venezuelans are able to pay for hospitals or private clinics, and that nearly 70% of the population suffers from poverty.

So they have no choice but to go to public hospitals, where a lot of expenses are paid out of pocket due to lack of resources. Furthermore, water and energy supplies are not always available, especially outside of Caracas.

It is a very difficult situation, which has now been made worse by the earthquake. But a comprehensive revamp of the health care system has been delayed.

Hanoush: The norm – before the earthquake happened – was to go to a public hospital because you needed hip surgery or because you broke your leg. You can reach out to the doctor who practices there, but the patient leaves that evaluation with a list of supplies they will need for the surgery.

Therefore, the patient needs to bring his own blankets, pillows and food. They need to bring gauze, gloves and everything. Maybe even the mattress you’ll need to stay in the hospital to sleep on. If you need a prosthesis, you need to know how to buy it. So it is very common to see individual fundraising.

This is how public health care works. And God bless the doctors working there.

The coastal city of La Guaira, just 30 minutes from Caracas, saw some of the worst damage from the earthquakes. Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images

Was there a contingency plan for a natural disaster like this?

Hanoush: It is an area known to be prone to earthquakes, but that does not mean that we have well-organized preparation for this type of disaster. This is definitely not the case. What I saw was an amazing number of people doing their best to help, but in a very disorganized way. Help is still arriving in many places, but there is so much to do that it is very stressful.

Flores: Just to put things in perspective, my father worked for Venezuela’s national oil company for over three decades, and there were backup systems in place to maintain the energy supply needed for oil extraction and other services that were well planned and coordinated. All of this was abandoned by the Chavez government in 2002-2003, after facing opposition and strikes by oil industry experts. And then there was no maintenance, no preventive measures, no drill to anticipate catastrophic situations or things like that.

In health care, which is not necessarily the main focus, it was much worse. Although there are some guidelines set by the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization to train healthcare workers in emergency preparedness, nothing like this has been implemented for the past two decades or so.

It is also worth noting that there is nothing in the building code for buildings in Venezuela that allows for earthquake remediation, and this is a contributing factor to poor preparedness.

Is aid still reaching Venezuela, and is it getting where it needs to go?

Hannoush: We’ve seen amazing things happen with people coming from all over the world in solidarity, and I hope this continues because Venezuela will need everyone’s help.

There are many people from the United States and reputable nonprofits who are eager to donate, but there is also a significant lack of trust between the government and nonprofits that want to donate. We’ve had repeated instances – during Covid-19, in 1999 – where donations were made centrally to the government for distribution, and then things didn’t get to where they needed to be. Hence this mistrust.

So I’ve been trying to help on that front – getting donations across customs borders and then making sure they get to the right hospitals and to our colleagues there at ground zero.

Are you optimistic about Venezuela’s future now?

Florez: The silver lining is that after COVID-19, since everyone needs to ramp up our platforms and our virtual care and so on, we can free up some resources not only for care but also for workforce training. Thousands have emigrated, can we Venezuelans in other countries do something to train people in Venezuela so they can provide good health care?

I am still optimistic. But there is still much to be done. Yes, we are meeting an urgent need with earthquake relief, but we also have to address the important need for health care reform.

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