Medical Care At a CCSS
Hospital – A Different
Kind of Story
By Steven Fargo
Have you ever been
treated in a CCSS (Caja)
hospital? Probably not.
But most of you have
heard stories about
inefficient service,
uncaring personnel and
long lines.
This story is about my
experience at with the
CCSS medical system. I
am a legal resident of
Costa Rica; pay for
voluntary Caja medical
coverage and I am over
60. For the past few
months I have been
suffering from severe
pain in my left leg
below the knee. I was
examined at the local
CCSS clinic in Santa Ana
and was given a
reference to Hospital
Dr. Raúl Blanco
Cervantes in San José.
This hospital is
available only to
patients over the age of
60.
My first visit to the
hospital was on a
Tuesday morning about
9:30AM and I expected to
spend the entire day
waiting in lines and
filling out forms. I
certainly did not expect
to receive any medical
help, at least not on
that day. I was directed
to the area where new
patients are registered
and, to my surprise, all
it took was showing the
referral from my local
clinic, my cedula and
proof that I was current
in my voluntary coverage
payments. Less than a
half-hour later a nurse
recorded my weight and
blood pressure and I was
sitting in a reception
area waiting to see an
in-take physician.
This was the longest
wait of the day, about
45 minutes. The young
physician had my records
from the local clinic up
on his computer screen
and spent about 15
minutes asking me
questions about family
history, medications I
take and having me
describe the pain in my
leg. Then came a brief
examination followed by
the doctor’s opinion
that I should be seen by
a Neurologist to
determine the source of
the pain and the
possible treatment
options.
I sarcastically asked
how many months or years
it would take to see a
specialist and he
grinned and said “Let’s
see what we can do.” He
wrote a referral to the
specialist and sent me
to the appointments
desk. After checking the
computer for available
appointments, to my
great surprise, the
clerk asked me if
Thursday at 10AM would
be OK. Of course, I
asked “Which Thursday or
which year?” When she
said “This Thursday, two
days from now.” I was
really surprised.
Total time on Day 1 at
Hospital Dr. Raúl Blanco
Cervantes: 2hr 15min
I returned to the
hospital on Thursday at
10AM and was directed to
the Neurologist’s
office. Had to wait
about 15 minutes for him
to finish with another
patient and then I was
greeted in pure American
English; turns out that
the doctor was raised in
New England before his
family returned to Costa
Rica. What a nice
surprise! My Spanish is
reasonably good but
being able to talk to
the doctor in English
was a real benefit.
After taking an
extensive history and
conducting a very
through exam, the
tentative diagnosis was
a compressed Sciatic
nerve below my left
knee. He wrote orders
for an x-ray series, an
ultrasound exam and
specialized physical
therapy. I was told to
make an appointment to
see him again in two
weeks.
The same clerk set my
x-ray and ultrasound
appointments for the
following Tuesday
morning and said that
she was going to have to
talk to the Chief of
Physical Therapy about
getting me into their
schedule.
Total time on Day 2 at
Hospital Dr. Raúl Blanco
Cervantes: 1hr 30min
Tuesday morning, 7:30AM
I reported to the
radiology department
expecting to be there a
good part of the day. To
my surprise x-ray was
ready for me almost
immediately and when
they were finished, the
ultrasound technician
was waiting for me.
Total time on Day 3: 1hr
15 minutes
Friday morning, 10:00AM
I met with the
Neurologist and was told
that I have a badly
inflamed tendon caused
by my right leg being
5mm (¼”) shorter than my
left leg. He wrote a
prescription for shoe
inserts to correct this
problem and arranged for
me to start physical
therapy the following
week. I was told to
purchase a tube of an
anti-inflammatory
ointment (the CCSS does
not provide this
medicine) and bring it
to the physical therapy
sessions.
Total time on Day 4 at
Hospital Dr. Raúl Blanco
Cervantes: 45 minutes
Wednesday afternoon
12:30PM. I reported to
the Physical Therapy
department. The Physical
Therapy physician
established a schedule
of three treatments
weekly and within 15
minutes the
anti-inflammatory
ointment was being
applied with an
ultrasound device. Then
hot compresses were put
on my leg to further
stimulate deep
penetration of the
medicine.
Total time on Day 5 at
Hospital Dr. Raúl Blanco
Cervantes: 1 hour
I have now had three
physical therapy
sessions and I can feel
a substantial reduction
of the pain I have been
suffering for all these
months.
All of the personnel at
the Hospital Dr. Raúl
Blanco Cervantes have
been incredibly
courteous, efficient and
sympathetic to the pain.
Don’t believe all the
horror stories you may
have heard about the
CCSS (Caja) medical
system. You have to have
a little patience and
the facilities are not
as bright and shinny as
a private hospital but
the medical care is
first rate.
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