Costa Rica News – A doctor is using hospital corridors in Alajuela to care for terminally ill patients and their families.
He is the only specialist in palliative care and pain control at the San Rafael Hospital and is without sufficient space to see patients.
The first-time appointments for those suffering from non-terminal chronic pain are for the beginning of 2020. The doctor doesn’t have any staff to help him. He is his own secretary and sees patients in hallways, the kitchen and even the bathroom.
He must give patients bad news in overcrowded rooms without a private place to process. He has only four beds and 2,000 patients.
He needs a team with a psychologist, nurse, social worker, pharmacist, nutritionist and secretary to offer a basic service.
The CCSS decided to start offering this service in this location three years ago and the doctor has since accumulated 42 vacation days because with such a demand he can’t find time to take off.
