Well, we just had our first (in 4 yrs of living here) medical emergency. My super healthy retired husband woke up one morning and on his way to the bathroom fainted dead away. Hit his head, blood everywhere! I called our local small town Dr. who arrived in 10 min, took a look and called an ambulance. The ER in Lavagna (near Chiavari) was clean, new, fully staffed with competent people, plenty of parking and very well marked on the highway. He was taken in immediately given a CT scan, heart monitor, fluids, 7 stitches, and watched over for c. 9 hrs before being released...he also had a broken nose and we were referred to a Dr. on Sat. am to fix at the Sestri Levante Hospital, 20 minute visit. All at 0 cost to us...we do have Italian National Health Care that we pay a minimal amount for (compared to Boston) once a year. So, I know this is not a story of major or life threatening surgery but we were very pleased for a small yet scary situation. Tutto Posto