Expat Community > Panama

bhulsey79
Joined 2017
Posts: 85

My Recent Health Care Story (Chiriqui)

3 years ago

My neighbor was in good physical health but had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's.

He developed a stomach ailment just before Christmas and was taken by ambulance to Hospital Chiriqui in David where he spent a long weekend and was given an endoscopy.

He was told he would be transfered to intensive care (ICU). My neighbor could afford the care but, being 82 and very cheap, he refused to be put in ICU. The doctor then determined there was no other bed for him and transferred him to the public Regional Hospital - Hernandez in David.

He was placed in the gastro-intestinal ward where a colonoscopy was performed. After another week, I was informed he was ready to be released.

Before I could pick him up, I had to pay his bill. I was shocked to see their accounting office calculated the bill by longhand and then was told they would ONLY accept cash. No credit cards! There was an ATM in the lobby but Panamanian laws now prohibit ATM withdrawals over $250. So, the most I could pay was $400 of the $1600 in charges. No worries. I could pay the rest as I could.

The patient, when I was ready to receive him, was so zonked all he could do was sleep. My cabbie and some neighbors literally flung him onto the bed and I agreed to stay with him for the first four nights.

My friend's mental state, which was about 80% when he went to David, was now about 20% when he returned. He was not capable of any normal function such as feeding, bathroom or dressing himself. We had to hire a male nurse to help out.

We were told by the landlord we needed documentation that he did not have COVID before they'd let him return. No worries, we were told. The G-I ward is not in the same building as the COVID ward. The public hospital indicated they tested him and he was negative.

Within a week, it was clear my friend DID have COVID and I had caught it too. I'm still going through the two-week quarantine.

My friend, though was rushed by ambulance back to David where he was put in the COVID ward where he died yesterday.

Key takeaway points:

* Have some sort of a health insurance plan. Don't think you can just wing it with cash on hand.

* Boquete Home Hospice was terrific with all sorts of free supplies as long as the patient lived in the general Boquete area. Truly a gem.

* Do not agree to general anesthesia if the patient is suffering from any form of dementia. Studies are beginning to reveal that dementia patients can be turned into little better than vegetables after general anesthesia is given them. That can best explain the rapid mental decline I witnessed.

* My experience with the public hospital in David is that it is little more than a death trap. To say the care was substandard would be damning with faint praise. It's my belief that they gave my friend COVID and then released him to the public when he was in no condition to be cared for by non-professionals.

This is why I strongly urge to find a plan that works with the private hospitals.

Cigna Global Health

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Cigna Global Health

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My Recent Health Care Story (Chiriqui)

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