Field Reports from Costa Rica

Group pictures of the UAlbany SPH students and faculty visiting Costa Rica.

UAlbany team visited Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health and was briefed by some officials on the structure, mission and vision of the ministry, and the concept of “social production of health.”

The group visited Hospital San Juan de Dios, in San Jose. This is one of the tertiary care-referral center hospitals in the country. A 680-bed hospital with all specialty care and state-of-the-art technology, functions in an old building in downtown San Jose. The hospital was established in the 1860s. A new building is being planned. Surgical theaters, cardiac care unit and the intensive care unit are well equipped. The Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (“The Caja”), which is the provider of health care to Costarricans, runs the hospital. Equipment is acquired through leases, which last 4 years. This means every 4 years new equipment is put in place. This allows the Caja hospitals to have access to state-of-the-art equiment.

Next stop, the CAIS in Cañas, province of Guanacaste. CAIS (Centro de Atención Integral de Salud/Center for Comprehensive Health Care), are centers with more resources and services than EBAIS (Equipo Básico de Atención Integral de Salud/Basic Team for Comprehensive Health Care). There are EBAIS all over the country. A few CAIS are located on a regional basis.

The UAlbany group visited the EBAIS (Equipo Basico de Atención Integral de Salud/Basic Team for Comprehensive Health Care) in Monteverde.  Monteverde is a unique place, founded by Quakers who immigrated from the US in the 1950s. There are biological/ecological reserves that highlight the biodiversity of a cloud forest.

Educating the community at Villa Vieja about water issues.