Health Care in Costa Rica

Because I am taking a Spanish for Healthcare Professionals class while here in Costa Rica, they brought us on a field trip to the public hospital and the private hospital. Unfortunately, because a girl in our group was very sick, I was already at the private hospital. They made the mistake of showing us the private one first, and we all thought we were in an episode of House as they continued to share with us their amazing facility.
I mean, even the view from the hospital was amazing.







After a long lecture on how much better Costa Rica´s public health care system is than our own, we got on a bus and actually saw the public hospital for ourselves.
A couple of the patients I spoke to explained that it may take an entire year to get a mamogram and, frequently, when they finally receive the mamogram, the cancer is already in a late stage (and examples like this).

It´s in a crazy part of the city, with panhandlers, pick pockets and people screaming and selling things all over the place outside.



The guard told us that this is a small line for a number to be seen than what they normally see. Beyond this, there are a series of waiting rooms.
The doctor´s office across the street.



Not that I want my blog to be a forum for the good and bad points of public health care, but this is an extreme situation in which we can see a stark difference between what people can get if they pay for it and the health care that is provided to the public.
Also, when I say public, I am specifically referring to the people who pay into social security or the people whose heads of household pay into social security. If people do not fall into either of these categories, they are outright refused health care unless they are children or pregnant.