The Manuel Mora Valverde Hospital in the southern Costa Rican city of Golfito near the Panama border recently received an investment of approximately US$1.8 million to renovate and upgrade their outpatient care, operating rooms, neonatal care, and hospitalization area, said the Costa Rican Social Security Agency which runs the country’s public health care facilities.

In February surgeons at the facility were able to conduct their first laparoscopic surgery, or minimally invasive surgery (MIS), thanks to the new equipment installed in the hospital.

Laparoscopy and endoscopy are modern surgical techniques in which operations are performed far from their location through small incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm) elsewhere in the body; the Golfito hospital now has all-in-one units with computerized systems that provide visualization and documentation for what are also known as “key-hole” surgical procedures.

The Golfito Hospital has recently undergone a series of transformations in terms of infrastructure and equipment, and has been strengthened by the incorporation of specialists in gastroenterology and internal medicine, said María del Rocío Madrigal, executive president of the CCSS.

Guillermo Mendieta, medical director of the Golfito Hospital, said that the new acquisitions – endoscopic and laparoscopic towers, new beds, a digital X-ray machine, incubators, vital signs monitors, infusion pumps, phototherapy lamps, and special devices to monitor bilirubin levels of newborns without needing to draw blood, among others – will improve the quality and timeliness of care in this region of 42,000 residents.

The investments and improvements in this regional facility are part of a national strategy to improve primary and secondary health care services throughout the country, to improve access to a wider range of medical services for the country’s rural population.

 

The Golfito hospital has recently renovated its offices, outpatient care area, hospital rooms, and operating rooms, and installed an air conditioning system to improve the quality of care in this southernmost region of the Puntarenas province.

 

The Manuel Mora Valverde Hospital has 75 beds, two operating rooms and offers the following specialties: internal medicine, general surgery, orthopedics, psychiatry, gastroenterology, gynecology, radiology, and pediatrics, said the CCSS.