Guanacaste Hospitals Safe
In Aftermath of Earthquake
(InfoWebPress) – Guanacaste’s hospitals — Enrique Baltodano in
Liberia and La Anexion in Nicoya— didn’t suffer any damage as a
result of the Jan. 8 earthquake in the north-central part of the
country. The details were released in a report by the Costa Rican
Social Security System (CCSS).
Even though the 6.2-magnitude earthquake that caused death and
destruction in the epicenter area wasn’t felt in Guanacaste,
residents of the province did experience a Jan. 21 tremor that
originated in the local Playa Conchal fault. This second event,
however, didn’t result in material damage, either.
Every time an earthquake of the magnitude of that of Cinchona (in
the Poas Volcano area) is experienced, the CCSS evaluates the
infrastructure of its hospitals around the country to make sure no
important problems occurred and guarantee they can respond
effectively to any emergencies.
Architect Gabriela Murillo Jenkins, manager of CCSS’ Infrastructure
and Technology division, and Jorge Granados Soto, an engineer in
charge of the institution’s Engineering and Architecture division,
said hospital buildings responded well to the strong Jan. 8
earthquake.
The CCSS experts indicated that this institution has worked hard in
the past few years to reinforce some of the hospital buildings,
among them the National Children’s Hospital and the Mexico Hospital
(San Jose), Monseñor Sanabria Hospital (Puntarenas), Fernando
Escalante Pradilla Hospital (Perez Zeledon, Southern Zone), Tony
Facio Hospital (Limon), the Marcial Rodriguez Clinic (Alajuela), the
Francisco Bolaños Clinic (Heredia), and the old building of the San
Rafael Hospital of Alajuela.
Murillo and Granados also said that the new CCSS hospital
infrastructure has been built using Seismic Code standards,
including the emergency service wings at La Anexion, Golfito and San
Vito hospitals.
Also brought up to standard are the Alajuela Clinic, the Cañas
Healthcare Center, the Calderon Guardia Hospital’s South Tower, the
San Rafael de Oreamuno Clinic, the new tower at the National Women’s
Hospital, the new buildings at the National Children’s Hospital and
at Liberia hospital, among others.
Murillo and Granados added that the new buildings are very rigorous
in terms of earthquake and fire safety, with a very high investment
made for their protection. They were referring specifically to the
Heredia Hospital, the Puriscal Clinic, and the buildings that will
house the MRI unit and the Basic Integral Healthcare Equipments (EBAIS)
in Limon.
Right now, the experts said, the CCSS is in the process of designing
the structural reinforcement of the Ciudad Neilly Hospital and the
rest of the La Anexion Hospital.
Granados informed that the Engineering and Architecture division has
a seismic protection program included in the “Safe Hospital” plan,
which began last year and seeks to carry out a diagnosis of other
hospital buildings, with the goal of determining which require a
vulnerability study and which would need structural reinforcement. |
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