Three days after a 7.5 quake rattled Panama, its health teams never stopped caring

The magnitude-7.5 earthquake that struck Panama on October 9 damaged 29 health facilities across eight provinces and the Ngabe-Bugle Indigenous Region. But care barely paused: most facilities stayed open, with services moving to outdoor areas, tents and temporary modules while assessments continue. The Pan American Health Organization is coordinating with Panama's health ministry, which is running its emergency operations center and regional situation rooms around the clock. The immediate needs are practical - safe drinking water, generators and fuel, communications gear, portable toilets - and the plan is simple: keep every clinic's doors, wherever those doors now stand, open.