Trying to Reduce Overcrowding in the Costa Rica Healthcare System

Costa Rica News – The laboratory at the Max Peralta Hospital in Cartago is forced to open on Saturdays.

This change is part of an entire set of measures meant to alleviate overcrowding due to increased demand for services.

The extension will primarily benefit those patients with pending operations, according to the Caja’s press office. The collection of samples on Saturdays will be from 6am to 2pm.

Many services in the hospital have been saturated. Second shifts have been opened and evening surgeries scheduled to resolve waiting lists.

The hospital has even had to resort to renting buildings around the main facilities while the new hospital is in the works.

Within the next two weeks, other changes will include increasing the appointment allocation time by three hours, giving lab appointments to chemotherapy patients during consultations, and using a fixed network to streamline systems.