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Where it all begins!
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INSIDECOSTARICA.COM
| COSTA RICA
NEWS | Friday
04 November 2011 |
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Caja
Tells
Patient:
Come
Back
in 7
Years
After
suffering
painful
chronic
gastritis
for
10
years,
Osa
district
policeman
Wilberth
Villalta
went
to
the
closest
public
hospital,
Hospital
Escalante
Padilla
in
San
Isidro
de
El
General,
three
months
ago.
He
was
given
an
appointment
for
a
gastroscopy
examination
-
seven
years
from
now.
The
date
for
the
procedure,
Sept.
26,
2018,
could
be a
typographical
error,
but
those
who
have
watched
the
public
health
system
in
Costa
Rica
for
years
aren't
counting
on
it.
Villalta
certainly
doesn't
believe
it.
"This
is
the
last
straw!"
Villalta
told
the
daily
La
Nacion,
which
broke
the
story,
"My
contribution
to
the
Caja
has
been
deducted
promptly
in
every
paycheck.
How
is
it
possible
that
they
try
to
do
this
to
me?"
Fantastic
scheduling
has
been
a
chronic
disease
of
Caja
Costarricense
de
Seguro
Social
(CCSS)
administration
for
years.
Showing
the
benefits
of
the
free
press,
stories
have
popped
up
like
this
in
every
corner
of
the
media
from
the
English-language
media
to
scandal
sheets
like
Diario
Extra.
In
the
1990s,
callous
Caja
bureaucrats
scheduled
operations
and
exams
well
into
the
21st
century
with
cheerful
disregard
for
medical
realities.
It
was
not
uncommon
for
patients
requiring
immediate
surgery
to
die
before
the
date
for
the
operation
rolled
around.
Caja
director
Ileana
Balmaceda,
consulted
by
La
Nacion,
expressed
complete
disagreement
with
the
situation,
although
she
claimed
not
to
be
familiar
with
Villalta's
case.
She
said
that
one
of
her
orders
to
new
Caja
officials
is
to
speed
up
such
appointments.
(The
institution
has
recently
done
some
personnel
housecleaning
after
a
Legislative
Assembly
investigating
committee
and
government
officials
have
put
the
Caja
under
a
microscope
for
inefficiency
and
overspending
its
budget.)
Hospital
Escalante
Padilla
medical
director,
Dr.
Alexis
Rodriguez,
seemed
unmoved
by
Villalta's
dilemma.
He
explained
blandly
to
the
newspaper
that
three
kinds
of
such
exams
were
scheduled,
emergency,
for
interned
patients--required
quickly
to
test
for
cancer
-
and
non-emergency.
"The
time
(needed)
to
make
an
examination
depends
on
the
doctor's
diagnosis...
It
appears
to
me
that
the
police
officer's
case
is
not
one
for
an
urgent
examination,"
Rodriguez
said.
He
added
that
the
hospital
has
but
one
gastroenterologist.
It
is
unlikely
that
Rodriguez's
explanation
will
assuage
the
furious
Villalta.
"I
can't
wait
until
the
the
date
they
set
for
an
examination,
I''ll
have
to
see
what
can
be
done,"
he
said.
Commentary:
It
appears
characteristic
of
the
lack
of
confidence
in
the
public
health
care
system
here
that
the
National
Insurance
Institute
(INS)
does
not
entrust
its
patients
to
the
tender
mercies
of
the
Caja.
Instead,
with
a
goal
of
getting
their
patients
back
to
work
as
soon
as
possible,
they
contract
a
private
clinic,
Clinica
Catolica,
and
their
own
doctors
for
care.
Neither
does
the
country's
presidenta,
Laura
Chinchilla
trust
the
public
health
system,
opting
for
her
surgery
recenlty
at a
private
hospital.
See
story
"Costa
Rica's
Presidenta
Prefers
Private
Hospital
Over
Public".
Although
many
individual
nurses
and
doctors
in
public
clinics
and
hospitals
are
sincere,
the
system
often
seems
set
up
for
the
comfort
of
the
staff
more
than
care
for
patients.
Fijatevos.com |
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Source
Apdo. 2133-1000, San José, Costa
Rica
Tel: (506) 2231 3205 / (506) 8399
9642
Fax: (506) 2232 6337
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