In Costa Rica, the Hospital Metropolitano announced that in the next three years it will invest in the opening of four new locations and in the expansion of services in some branches that already operate.
Although no further details are provided regarding the locations of the new headquarters of the business group, directors of Grupo Montecristo, the main shareholder of Hospital Metropolitano, said that the establishments will operate inside and outside the Central Valley.
Paitilla Hospital, located on 53rd Street in Panama City, is a point that is 15 minutes away by car, and has a potential market of 380 thousand consumers, of which 13% are interested in health care issues.
Using the Geomarketing solutions we have developed for our clients, CentralAmericaData's Trade Intelligence team analyzed the environment of some of the main hospital locations in Central America. Below is an extract of the study's findings.
In the first half of 2019, 13 environmental impact studies were presented to build hospitals, clinics and other health care centers in the countries of the region, projects valued at $280 million.
The interactive platform "Construction in Central America", compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData, includes an up to date list of public and private construction projects for which environmental impact studies (EIA) were submitted to the respective institutions of each country.
The American business group Sandford Health acquired 12.5% of the shares of the companies of the Montecristo Group.
Both companies reported that they reached an agreement for Sandford to acquire part of the shares of the Montecristo Group companies, such as Hospital Metropolitano, Medismart, Labinclinic, Drs Dent and Laboratorios Páez.
In Costa Rica, contracts have been awarded for three construction and equipment projects for new branches in San Isidro de Heredia, Santa Bárbara de Heredia and Santa Cruz de Guanacaste.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Social Security Department:
April 17, 2018.The Board of Directors of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) awarded, last week, three large building projects to strengthen the primary level of care for an amount of ¢31,698,074,458.14.The projects will benefit 133,049 peoplein populations in Heredia and Guanacaste.
In the next five years the Costa Rican Social Security Institution plans to invest about $1.8 billion in building new infrastructure and purchase of medical equipment.
The aim of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) is to start to reverse the significant backlog there is in terms of building infrastructure, due to the decline in investment registered with the entity from about 2010.
The increase in the use of medical policies and a greater culture of prevention explains the 15% increase in the demand for private hospitals in the region expected for this year.
Despite the economic difficulties faced by each country in the region, demand in this sector has not diminished, as 60% of service users have private medical insurance. This underlies "...
The country lacks adequate infrastructure options and care services for elderly people.
Aging in Costa Rica has become a business. Official figures reveal that at least one illegal care center opens its doors every month, however, these facilities do not have the minimum conditions required for the care of seniors.
The Ministry of Health has 89 nursing homes serving nearly 3000 people across the country.
The renovation of 120 anesthesia machines will be carried out in four stages and the first will be a purchase of 25 machines at a cost of $1.3 million.
The Costa Rican Social Security Department is changing 120 pieces of medical equipment in 13 hospitals. The replacement will be divided into four stages. In the first 25 machines will be purchased for a value of $1.3 million, the second includes the purchase of new equipment and is now in the stage of receipt of bids and the last is at the end of the tender process.
A $270 million loan awarded by the BCIE will enable the construction of new hospital facilities in San Jose, Guanacaste and Puntarenas.
From a press release issued by the Presidency of Costa Rica:
This morning (yesterday) the Government of the Republic signed an agreement with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) which allows the construction of new hospital facilities, strengthening and increasing the capacity for attention of three national hospitals in the provinces of San José, Guanacaste and Puntarenas; in the latter place a new hospital will be built, since facilities were affected by the earthquake of 2012.
The Social Security Department is going to purchase anaesthesia machines, scanners and MRI machines between 2014 and 2018.
This was revealed in the data managed by Infrastructure Management and Technology of the Social Security Department (CCSS). The 120 anaesthesia machines will be purchased in 2014, while the scanners for hospitals Mexico, Calderon Guardia and San Juan de Dios will be acquired in 2017.
The Costa Rican Social Security Institute (CCSS) has announced the construction of a Center for Integrated Health Care in Limon.
From the second half of this year, the CCSS will build a Center for Integral Health Care in the canton of Siquirres, Limon, for $23.56 million. The center should open its doors in early 2014.
"The chief executive of the institution, Ileana Balmaceda, said the aim with this new medical center is to provide care for the Caribbean population, strengthen services in the area and relieve the hospitals Tony Facio in Limon, Guapiles and Calderon Guardia in San Jose", reported laprensalibre.cr. "This will benefit about 90,000 people in the areas of Siquirres, Batan, Pocora and Matina," said Balmaceda.
More and more hospitals are entering the growing market and with great speed.
Two new branches of the Metropolitan Hospital in San Jose, a new hospital in the province of Cartago and expansions of older ones, such as the Clinica Biblica, are the new elements in the private healthcare market in the country.
The growing demand for private medical services has propelled development of the market, which until recently consisted of three major hospitals and has now been expanded with the arrival of new competitors.
Banmédica is the largest private health organization in Chile, with investments in Colombia and Argentina, and with subsidiaries in the insurance sector.
With an average investment of $70 million annually for the past 12 years, Banmédica provides a wide range of health-related services, including clinics, laboratories, medical centers and medical rescue units. It also provides health insurance services.
With an $85 million total investment, works at the Heredia Hospital complex are 73% completed.
The six buildings comprising the hospital complex are already built, and they will be equipped between April and May 2010.
"...to the moment we have complied with each of the milestones in the schedule, so it is expected that Edica Ltda, the company in charge of equipping the buildings, could deliver the complex to the Costa Rican Social Insurance Authority by April 2010", said construction chief Robert Sánchez Acuña, in an article in Prensalibre.cr.