New Hospital in Costa Rica for Medical Travellers and Retirees
With hospital costs in the United States Seemingly verging on being completely out-of-control with no end in sight, more and more Americans have had to delay or sometimes forego medical or dental care just because they couldn't afford the kind of care they deserved and wanted.
More money per person is spent on medical care by American residents than any other country on earth and, except for East Timor (ever heard of it?), the U.S. pays a bigger proportion of the country's total income for medical care than any country in the world. Worse yet, more than 50 million residents are without insurance and basically priced out of the American medical industry.
That , in turn, has led to a void between the need and desire to get quality medical care and an ability to do so at a cost people can afford.
But, like Nature, business abhors a vacuum and as the American medical industry increasingly prices its services beyond its customers' capability or willingness to pay, other countries have begun moving into the vacuum.
Today, we all know it as medical tourism and little Costa Rica has developed one of the top 5 medical tourism destinations in the world.
It's easy to see why: high quality of care in world-accredited (called "Joint Commission Accredited International Accreditation" or "JCI") hospitals, board certified physicians, and prices up to 65% lower than those in the States. In fact, Costa Rica's capitol city, San Jose, has 3 private JCI hospitals that meet the highest standards of any American hospital (maybe no coincidence since some are managed by U.S. medical providers).
One of those hospitals, CIMA, is the country's newest first class hospital. Located just outside San Jose in upscale Escazu, it has an emergency department, diagnostic services, internal medicine, surgical theaters, pediatrics, gynecology and obstetrics and hosts an attached 6 story medical-consulting building housing more than 160 professionals in 52 specializations.
By every account , it's a top-of-the-class hospital that's beenan enormous success.
As it celebrates its 20th birthday in San Jose, in 2012 CIMA is opening its second hospital, this one in booming Guanacaste along the north Pacific of Costa Rica. Projected to cost $125,000.000, the hospital will be about 215,000 sq. feet in size, located just outside Liberia, and about 15 minutes from the country's famous Gold Coast beaches.
The new hospital will be part of a complex thatalso includes medical offices, restaurants, and an apartment-style hotel. Plans are to build it in phases which will eventually include assisted living and nursing home facilities, aimed at lucrative senior healthcare.
With 10,000 US citizens retiring daily, many of them looking to move to tropical environs, Costa Rica's Gold Coast is a tempting choice.
Liberia has the nation's newest international airport (and already gets some 600,000 travelers a year) as well as the new, state-of-the-art hospital. Also, a new retirement community of 2,200 acres is in development.
These retirees present an enticing target for the medical industry.
Medical travellers already bring in more than $100 million yearly to this little Central American country, a number that many bet will climb dramatically.
And, with 750,000 American residents already traveling overseas for medical care that's too expensive back home, the market has barely been scratched for the Costa Rica medical tourism industry.
More money per person is spent on medical care by American residents than any other country on earth and, except for East Timor (ever heard of it?), the U.S. pays a bigger proportion of the country's total income for medical care than any country in the world. Worse yet, more than 50 million residents are without insurance and basically priced out of the American medical industry.
That , in turn, has led to a void between the need and desire to get quality medical care and an ability to do so at a cost people can afford.
But, like Nature, business abhors a vacuum and as the American medical industry increasingly prices its services beyond its customers' capability or willingness to pay, other countries have begun moving into the vacuum.
Today, we all know it as medical tourism and little Costa Rica has developed one of the top 5 medical tourism destinations in the world.
It's easy to see why: high quality of care in world-accredited (called "Joint Commission Accredited International Accreditation" or "JCI") hospitals, board certified physicians, and prices up to 65% lower than those in the States. In fact, Costa Rica's capitol city, San Jose, has 3 private JCI hospitals that meet the highest standards of any American hospital (maybe no coincidence since some are managed by U.S. medical providers).
One of those hospitals, CIMA, is the country's newest first class hospital. Located just outside San Jose in upscale Escazu, it has an emergency department, diagnostic services, internal medicine, surgical theaters, pediatrics, gynecology and obstetrics and hosts an attached 6 story medical-consulting building housing more than 160 professionals in 52 specializations.
By every account , it's a top-of-the-class hospital that's beenan enormous success.
As it celebrates its 20th birthday in San Jose, in 2012 CIMA is opening its second hospital, this one in booming Guanacaste along the north Pacific of Costa Rica. Projected to cost $125,000.000, the hospital will be about 215,000 sq. feet in size, located just outside Liberia, and about 15 minutes from the country's famous Gold Coast beaches.
The new hospital will be part of a complex thatalso includes medical offices, restaurants, and an apartment-style hotel. Plans are to build it in phases which will eventually include assisted living and nursing home facilities, aimed at lucrative senior healthcare.
With 10,000 US citizens retiring daily, many of them looking to move to tropical environs, Costa Rica's Gold Coast is a tempting choice.
Liberia has the nation's newest international airport (and already gets some 600,000 travelers a year) as well as the new, state-of-the-art hospital. Also, a new retirement community of 2,200 acres is in development.
These retirees present an enticing target for the medical industry.
Medical travellers already bring in more than $100 million yearly to this little Central American country, a number that many bet will climb dramatically.
And, with 750,000 American residents already traveling overseas for medical care that's too expensive back home, the market has barely been scratched for the Costa Rica medical tourism industry.
About the Author:
About the writer: Vic Krumm lives in sunny Costa Rica. Visit his commended website about Costa Rica Vacationsand find out more about the exceptional and inexpensive medical care in Costa Rica.
