Ecuador Living

Cotacachi Medical Information wouldn’t be complete without information on Cotacachi hospital.

The hospital was founded in 1977 as a county hospital similar to others all over Ecuador. Since then it has expanded physically and also offers more services. The man in charge is Doctor Oscar Castillo.

Cotacachi county is divided into 14 parishes and some of these parishes are 80 miles away 7,000 feet lower in a tropical environment. Different illnesses down there for sure that don’t even exist in the mountains. Each parish has one or two health centers. Dr. Castillo has quite a responsibilty but standing over 6 foot tall and with a ramrod back he does exude an air of quiet authority.

Cotacachi hospital has both a vision and mission statement. The vision statement is telling of the ambition and pride everyone attached to the hospital feels.

“To convert Cotacachi into a healthy county in which the multi-ethnic peoples live in social, spiritual, material and environmental harmony exercising shared rights and responsabilities in a participative democracy applying principles and values of equality and solidarity prioritizing the promotion of health with universal access to health services of warmth and quality using both western and traditional knowledge and practices.”

Cotacachi hospital is funded by the Ministry of Health based in Quito and as such ALL services are free. This is quite remarkable in a supposedly “third world country” but the reality is that Ecuador better fits the description of an “emerging country”.

There are doctors providing consultations to the local citizens, a specialist childrens doctor. Services include vaccinations, pregnancy care and general medical practice.

There are four emergency doctors who treat burns and injuries from accidents and also an operating theater with a general surgeon.

Staff nurses are ready to attend the patients in the wards, separated into those for men, women and children.

Operations performed at the Cotacachi hospital include appendectomies, hysterectomies, removal of the gall bladder and treating hernias. All of these are free to all who show up including non-Ecuadorians. The lady sat on the seat against the wall below had just had an hysterectomy hours before this photo was taken…

There is a dental center, again offering free dental attention …

and also a testing laboratory where they can run tests on blood, urine and faeces to test for cholesterol and psa levels or even parasites…

Cotacachi hospital does not treat broken bones nor patients who’ve suffered a heart attack or stroke. These patients are rushed by ambulance to city hospitals or clinics in nearby Ibarra. Or they are brought to Cotacachi hospital to be stabilzed before being transferred to other clinics.
The ambulance service is free too including transfer to other hospitals or clinics, even as far away as Quito (75 miles).

This series of Cotacachi medical information posts are written with the aim to anwer such pre-travel questions as “…but what happens if you get sick?”.

Of course we hope you won’t get sick here but it’s nice to know you are covered just in case you do. Most people get healthier. Take Lee, a friend of ours who is doing some re-modelling work on the museum next door. He has lost 24lbs in 4 months … and let me tell you .. Lee was already slim. “I’m down to just 4lbs more than when I finished military service over 30 years ago” he tells me incredulously.

From what I saw today at Cotacachi hospital their vision statement is well on the way to being fulfilled, but eating healthy non-processed foods grown in natural environments goes a long way to keeping us all healthy down here. Come see for yourselves and lose weight as you enjoy healthy nutritious food.

May 13-17 Ecuador Import Export Course
http://www.garyascott.com/catalog/ecuador-import-and-export-tour

June 6-9 Ecuador Coast & Quito Real Estate Tour
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June 11-15 Ecuador Spanish Course
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June 16-17 Imbabura Real Estate Tour
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June 19-21 Shamanic Mingo Tour
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See discounts for attending more than one June course
http://www.garyascott.com/catalog/ecuador-tours-savings

September 17-20 Ecuador Coast & Quito Real Estate Tour
http://www.garyascott.com/catalog/ecuador-coastal-real-estate-tour

Sept 23-27 Ecuador Spanish Course
http://www.garyascott.com/catalog/ecuador-spanish-course

Sept 28-29 Imbabura Real Estate Tour
http://www.garyascott.com/catalog/ecuador-real-estate

See discounts for attending more than one Sept. course
http://www.garyascott.com/catalog/ecuador-tours-savings

Oct 14-18 Ecuador Import Export Course
http://www.garyascott.com/catalog/ecuador-import-and-export-tour

Nov 7-9 International Investing and Business Made EZ Ecuador
http://www.garyascott.com/catalog/international-business-made-ez-ecuador

Nov 10-11 Imbabura Real Estate tour
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November 12-15, 2008 Ecuador Coast & Quito Real Estate Tour
http://www.garyascott.com/catalog/ecuador-coastal-real-estate-tour

See discounts for attending more than one Nov. course
http://www.garyascott.com/catalog/ecuador-tours-savings