A couple of months ago I wrote about the announcement of CEMESA Hospital group building a facility here on Roatan. For those not familiar with CEMESA it is one of the top health care facilities in the country that employees some of the top doctors in Central America. They have been directly responsible for diagnosing issues I had, correctly, that I had when I was in the U.S. and were diagnosed incorrectly. There is no doubt that the U.S. has great medical care but unfortunately the price of it is so high that often doctors do not, or are hesitant in ordering tests that would catch things that are missed there. In this country they (for me personally) have found aortic aneurysms that would have never been found there, thus saving my life. In another instance I have had MRI’s here that showed a tumor in my shoulder that for 15 years in the U.S. I was told was arthritis and in a third situation had an MRI that cost $400.00 here that (two weeks later because the U.S. doctors did not trust the MRI from here), cost $5,000.00 in Miami.
This past week I met with a Hospital Board member that said construction would start within 30 days here on the island and that they felt would be completed soon after the first of the year, 2015. Those who live here will often note that ‘time’ here is different than time there, (things move slower), and I certainly would not guarantee that timeline but the fact that they are moving forward is certainly a positive statement. They are generating this facility in an existing building so that should expedite the situation.
If you are looking to live more and spend less medical care is and should be a concern. When you can see a General Practitioner here on the island for $15.00 for an office visit, buy prescriptions by walking into a Pharmacy and see a specialist for less than $100.00 it saves a lot of cash and hassle.
Raising your standard of living by lowering your costs is an option that we all should practice.
