Costa Rica Medical Care

During the last couple of weeks we had the need to visit a doctor here in Atenas.  My 82 year old dad wanted to get a general checkup so we made an appointment with a local doctor.  We arrived just a few minutes before our scheduled time.  We were promptly seen by a very nice bilingual doctor named Candy.  She spent approximately 30 minutes with us, performed and EKG on my dad, and then gave us some orders to get some lab work and a sonogram done within the next week.  We paid cash for the visit since we do not have private nor CAJA (national insurance we should have once approved for full time residency).  The total cost was $70.00 US.  We were very impressed with the service and price of the visit.  

We went to get the lab work done and a sonogram.  The cost of the lab work was around $175.00 and sonogram on the stomach and neck was $100.00.  We went back yesterday for a follow up visit with the doctor...no charge.  Overall, this far, we have been very impressed with the level of care and professionalism in the healthcare industry.  Sure beats sitting in a doctor's office for 2-3 hours at some of the doctor's offices we frequented in Texas.  We did not have to wait over 5 minutes at any of the appointments.

The doctor prescribed an ointment for my dad's feet since he seems to have some toe fungus issues.  I picked up the ointment at the local drugstore.  Later that evening my dad asks me if I had looked at the ointment before I gave it to him to use.  "Why?" I asked...he replied, "you won't believe what she prescribed for me to use."  I had presumed it was foot ointment...wrong...the box clearly stated, "vaginal cream!"  What?  Dad said he couldn't figure out what the applicator in the box was for so upon closer inspection he discoverd that the applicator was not in fact to stuff up your big toenail.  I quickly dialed the doctor's office to find out if the pharmacy had dispensed the wrong medicine.  The doctor actually answered the phone herself and started laughing when she heard me nervously ask about the potential mixup.  She informed me that the topical cream was in fact "multipurpose."  I only wished she had forewarned us!  Anyway, after the "duche" incident with dad, I had decided it was best to be sure.