Residents near Panama's Pacific beaches will soon be closer to primary health care. The Clinica Hospital San Fernando held a groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday, 14 July 2007, for their new 750 square meter Clinica San Fernando Coronado. The clinic will be located on the main road leading into Coronado, right across the street from the Equestrian Club and outside of the entry gate, just off of the Pan-American highway. According to Dr. Edgardo Fernandez, Medical Director, Clinica Hospital San Fernando, "At this new health clinic here in Coronado we are going to have the capabilities to do CAT scans and x-rays, we're going to have a full laboratory and pharmacy, and there will be at least one doctor in the facility at all times, 24 hours a day." Remy Swaab, an English speaking expatriate who lives in the Country Club in Coronado, said "I think the the health clinic is a very good thing. It's going to be great for the whole area, and it's been a dream of many people here for a long time." (more)
Architectural design of the new San Fernando health clinic at Coronado.Opening in 2008: Last week's groundbreaking ceremony marked the start of construction for the new clinic which will proceed until completion sometime next year. According to Elisa de Lewis, General Director of the San Fernando Hospital, "this is the initiation of a project conceived of years ago by doctors at the hospital who had a desire to expand and improve the medical service and coverage in other areas of Panama where it is required. We choose to build this clinic in Coronado first because it is relatively close to Panama City, and we have been talking about doing this with the people from Coronado for years. We think the time is right to go forward with this initiative, and to expand into the interior of the country to offer our services."Project architects Juan Manuel Vasquez and Lucrecia Escalona describe the construction site and clinic layout.Emergency Services and More: Juan Manuel Vasquez and Lucrecia Escalona are the architects for the project. They explained the clinic will be "approximately 750 square meters in size, and will have an emergency room, a cast or plaster room for broken bones, an odontology or dental clinic, an imagery section with both an x-ray and CAT scan capability, a full laboratory, several medical consult and examination rooms, a special trauma room in the ER, and a 24-hour pharmacy. The cost of construction, not counting medical equipment, will be approximately $500,000 dollars. We hope the clinic will be ready and opened by the second half of 2008."Ellen Gangle and SebastianGlad to Have A Facility Close By: Ellen Gangle and her husband returned to Panama to retire in September of 2006. Originally from the Panama Canal zone, Ellen said "Panama is calling its children back home." Horses are her passion - "I wouldn't live here if I couldn't bring my horse." She rides Sebastian at least once and sometimes twice a day, and just recently bought a local Peruvian "paso fino" horse (the two horses are jealous of one another.) Sebastian is a huge animal and Ellen says "he has a very quiet personality, and that's why I bought him. I don't need a horse that's going to be bucking me off any more. He takes good care of me and I take good care of him. It's a mutual partnership." She added that "having the new health clinic here is very good news, especially since I tend to come off of the horse about once a year and break a few bones, so they can just drag me across the street and right to the clinic - I feel real secure. Plus there's the idea if there's an automobile accident or something serious, like if somebody has a heart attack, we've got an hour and a half before you get to a doctor in Panama City, so it's really comforting to know that we're going to have help close by." Ellen is retired from the US federal government and her husband retired from the US military, so they both have excellent health insurance that's widely accepted in Panama, and will be accepted by the new San Fernando health clinic in Coronado.The Pools at the Coronado Golf and Beach ResortClose To The Hotel: Margarita Garcia, the manager of the Coronado Golf and Beach Resort, is also very happy to see the ground breaking for the new health clinic in Coronado. She said "This clinic will be a very important feature or facility for this community, especially in this area, because if we are going to be a retirement community there's no other hospital in this area. The closest health clinic is a Seguro Social clinic in San Carlos, and then there's another in Chorrera. There are none, 'zero', private health facilities in this area, so it is a very important service they will be offering. As the manager of the Coronado Hotel it will be very comforting to know that the clinic will be here, in case of any medical emergencies."The Ground Breaking Ceremony for the new San Fernando Health Clinic at CoronadoClose to Home: The director of the Coronado group I. Roberto Eisenmann III said "actually I've been after this idea for twenty years personally. We have gone through different types of outfits throughout those twenty years but nothing like this. I hope this will become the #1 ER facility in the region. This is not a hospital but rather an emergency clinic to stabilize patients. The most important thing is the concept that response time in an emergency is key. We have been exploring ways to make this clinic accessible to all of the beach areas in the region, to include the possibility of having an emergency ambulance speedboat that could be dispatched to the different resorts along the Pacific coast which would greatly reduce response and travel times. If you wanted to drive down to Buena Ventura, for example, it would take you about 30 minutes to get there on the roads, but it's only a very short distance by the ocean. It may seem far-fetched but it may be a reality in the future." Dr. Fernandez added that "ambulance service is going to be provided to the clinic through a third company under a private contract, and we have been in discussions with an American company that is going to be providing an air ambulance service to the area in case anyone needs immediate medical evacuation. We are going to build a helicopter landing pad right behind the clinic to facilitate that kind of operation."Computed Axial Tomography (CAT scan) EquipmentSupport from Panama City: The new clinic in Coronado will be able to rely on the team of doctors and medical specialists at the San Fernando Clinics and Hospital in Panama City. Elisa de Lewis, General Director of the San Fernando Hospital, said "the radiology department at this clinic will have the ability to transmit x-rays or CAT Scans digitally back to a radiologist in Panama City via the Internet who will interpret the image there." Dr. Edgardo Fernandez, the Medical Director of the Clinica Hospital San Fernando said "there will be a group of doctors who are going to be dedicated to this clinic and they will be responsible for the care given here and they will be permanently assigned here. Of course they will rotate between themselves to provide care and coverage as needed. If they need to they can consult with the doctors and specialists in Panama City by communicating with us, and we can provide a consult on the case." Elisa de Lewis added "In addition, once we have this facility operating we will be able to schedule appointments with specialists for things such as odontology, opthamology, cardiology or whatever, once or twice a week depending on the need and the volume. We will be able to schedule cardiology patients, for example, on one morning a week and have the specialist come up to the clinic here to see them." Reception at Coronado's Equestrian Center after the groundbreaking ceremony.Rounding Out The Community: David Eisenmann said "It's great because it will be a way to take care of all the people of this area. Right now we have a doctor that has a little clinic, but now this clinic will have all of the instruments that are necessary to take care of people when they have a problem. This new clinic will appreciate the attractiveness of Coronado for potential investment because now we have everything here, supermarkets, a church, synagogue, hospital, hotel, everything. It's a very good deal for everyone, and especially for the retirees that are coming down here to live. We now have a community of expats that have retired and that are living here permanently, so they are glad to see it. Health-care is an issue they always think of when choosing a retirement destination. Having just an ambulance in Coronado and having to go all the way to the city is a difficult situation. Now with this it makes their decision very easy to come to Coronado to live. Or, to areas around Coronado."Potential for Future Expansion: Rene Diaz, a member of the Board of Directors of of the Clinica Hospital San Fernando said "this project was necessary because in this area of the country there is no private medical service offered for emergencies, and this is a very big area so it was necessary. I think that by starting with a small clinic and an Emergency Room and by offering primary health care services will allow us to start and then potentially expand depending on the level of response and need in the area. There is another project for elderly hospice care like in a nursing home that I think will also be a big success. I've been told that a lot of people who are interested in retiring to Panama are interested in bringing their parents with them and some of them need that kind of quality, speciality care for elderly citizens, and what could be better than having a place to move to like Coronado where they can have a place for their parents as well at a fraction of the cost compared to the United States. There is an area right next to the new clinic designated for this project." I. Roberto Eisenmann III added "when the San Fernando people started talking seriously about this project they started with a concept that included only 150 square meters of structure. When we finished and were ready to sign the contract they were already at 750 meters - CAT scan, lab, pharmacy, etcetera. So, I think they got the idea, and I think they are going to be short in space."Good for the Entire Community: I. Roberto Eisenmann III has been watching Coronado grow and expand for years. "When the opened the El Rey supermarket years ago everybody thought Niki Psychoyos was nuts. We were all used to Chinese people opening up these mini-supermarkets and no one thought it would work. It turns out that they changed the way we do our grocery shopping. Before we used to bring groceries to Coronado and to the beach areas. Now, not only do we not bring anything, because we buy it there, but we buy groceries here to bring back to Panama City. It's just easier and faster to do your grocery shopping here before you go back home after a weekend at the beach. The El Rey supermarket at Coronado sells more per square meter of space than any other supermarket in the Republic of Panama. And with regards to health services I think there will be a potential comparison with the El Rey supermarket. The clinic here will be small, but very efficient, and San Fernando is bringing very much needed health-care services into an area where there is a great demand. A lot of people are talking that this is a blessing for the retirees and the old people. I say 'no, you're wrong.' The retirees can probably withstand a heart attack better than you and I. This is a blessing for anybody - an infant, an adolescent, anybody. So, we are all blessed. It takes two or three minutes for you to die. As I said in the ceremony the most important thing in life is health, and the most fragile thing in human beings is life. You can lose your life in three minutes. So, this gives you tranquility, you know. You're not only going to go to the beach to enjoy yourself, play golf, etcetera, because you are always with the thought 'what happens if....' Like, what if I get an allergy, or a heart attack or something. Now you can relax. Becoming A Reality: Lic. Paula Harris, the Assistant Director of Marketing and Public Relations for the Clinica Hospital San Fernando said "It's really exciting because this is something we've been waiting for in San Fernando for several years, and now finally the project is going to happen. So, we're very excited and we have invited as many people as we could to share in this groundbreaking experience with us, and hopefully soon we will be celebrating the opening of the actual hospital next year. We expect to be opening in May of 2008."Contact Information: For more information about the future health clinic in Coronado, please contact the Clinica Hospital San Fernando:Telephone: +011 (507) 305-6300Fax: +011 (507) (507) 305-7000Mailing Address: P.O. Box 0834-00363, Panama, Rep. de Panama.E-mail: International Relations DepartmentWebsite: Clinica Hospital San Fernando
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Architectural design of the new San Fernando health clinic at Coronado.Opening in 2008: Last week's groundbreaking ceremony marked the start of construction for the new clinic which will proceed until completion sometime next year. According to Elisa de Lewis, General Director of the San Fernando Hospital, "this is the initiation of a project conceived of years ago by doctors at the hospital who had a desire to expand and improve the medical service and coverage in other areas of Panama where it is required. We choose to build this clinic in Coronado first because it is relatively close to Panama City, and we have been talking about doing this with the people from Coronado for years. We think the time is right to go forward with this initiative, and to expand into the interior of the country to offer our services."Project architects Juan Manuel Vasquez and Lucrecia Escalona describe the construction site and clinic layout.Emergency Services and More: Juan Manuel Vasquez and Lucrecia Escalona are the architects for the project. They explained the clinic will be "approximately 750 square meters in size, and will have an emergency room, a cast or plaster room for broken bones, an odontology or dental clinic, an imagery section with both an x-ray and CAT scan capability, a full laboratory, several medical consult and examination rooms, a special trauma room in the ER, and a 24-hour pharmacy. The cost of construction, not counting medical equipment, will be approximately $500,000 dollars. We hope the clinic will be ready and opened by the second half of 2008."Ellen Gangle and SebastianGlad to Have A Facility Close By: Ellen Gangle and her husband returned to Panama to retire in September of 2006. Originally from the Panama Canal zone, Ellen said "Panama is calling its children back home." Horses are her passion - "I wouldn't live here if I couldn't bring my horse." She rides Sebastian at least once and sometimes twice a day, and just recently bought a local Peruvian "paso fino" horse (the two horses are jealous of one another.) Sebastian is a huge animal and Ellen says "he has a very quiet personality, and that's why I bought him. I don't need a horse that's going to be bucking me off any more. He takes good care of me and I take good care of him. It's a mutual partnership." She added that "having the new health clinic here is very good news, especially since I tend to come off of the horse about once a year and break a few bones, so they can just drag me across the street and right to the clinic - I feel real secure. Plus there's the idea if there's an automobile accident or something serious, like if somebody has a heart attack, we've got an hour and a half before you get to a doctor in Panama City, so it's really comforting to know that we're going to have help close by." Ellen is retired from the US federal government and her husband retired from the US military, so they both have excellent health insurance that's widely accepted in Panama, and will be accepted by the new San Fernando health clinic in Coronado.The Pools at the Coronado Golf and Beach ResortClose To The Hotel: Margarita Garcia, the manager of the Coronado Golf and Beach Resort, is also very happy to see the ground breaking for the new health clinic in Coronado. She said "This clinic will be a very important feature or facility for this community, especially in this area, because if we are going to be a retirement community there's no other hospital in this area. The closest health clinic is a Seguro Social clinic in San Carlos, and then there's another in Chorrera. There are none, 'zero', private health facilities in this area, so it is a very important service they will be offering. As the manager of the Coronado Hotel it will be very comforting to know that the clinic will be here, in case of any medical emergencies."The Ground Breaking Ceremony for the new San Fernando Health Clinic at CoronadoClose to Home: The director of the Coronado group I. Roberto Eisenmann III said "actually I've been after this idea for twenty years personally. We have gone through different types of outfits throughout those twenty years but nothing like this. I hope this will become the #1 ER facility in the region. This is not a hospital but rather an emergency clinic to stabilize patients. The most important thing is the concept that response time in an emergency is key. We have been exploring ways to make this clinic accessible to all of the beach areas in the region, to include the possibility of having an emergency ambulance speedboat that could be dispatched to the different resorts along the Pacific coast which would greatly reduce response and travel times. If you wanted to drive down to Buena Ventura, for example, it would take you about 30 minutes to get there on the roads, but it's only a very short distance by the ocean. It may seem far-fetched but it may be a reality in the future." Dr. Fernandez added that "ambulance service is going to be provided to the clinic through a third company under a private contract, and we have been in discussions with an American company that is going to be providing an air ambulance service to the area in case anyone needs immediate medical evacuation. We are going to build a helicopter landing pad right behind the clinic to facilitate that kind of operation."Computed Axial Tomography (CAT scan) EquipmentSupport from Panama City: The new clinic in Coronado will be able to rely on the team of doctors and medical specialists at the San Fernando Clinics and Hospital in Panama City. Elisa de Lewis, General Director of the San Fernando Hospital, said "the radiology department at this clinic will have the ability to transmit x-rays or CAT Scans digitally back to a radiologist in Panama City via the Internet who will interpret the image there." Dr. Edgardo Fernandez, the Medical Director of the Clinica Hospital San Fernando said "there will be a group of doctors who are going to be dedicated to this clinic and they will be responsible for the care given here and they will be permanently assigned here. Of course they will rotate between themselves to provide care and coverage as needed. If they need to they can consult with the doctors and specialists in Panama City by communicating with us, and we can provide a consult on the case." Elisa de Lewis added "In addition, once we have this facility operating we will be able to schedule appointments with specialists for things such as odontology, opthamology, cardiology or whatever, once or twice a week depending on the need and the volume. We will be able to schedule cardiology patients, for example, on one morning a week and have the specialist come up to the clinic here to see them." Reception at Coronado's Equestrian Center after the groundbreaking ceremony.Rounding Out The Community: David Eisenmann said "It's great because it will be a way to take care of all the people of this area. Right now we have a doctor that has a little clinic, but now this clinic will have all of the instruments that are necessary to take care of people when they have a problem. This new clinic will appreciate the attractiveness of Coronado for potential investment because now we have everything here, supermarkets, a church, synagogue, hospital, hotel, everything. It's a very good deal for everyone, and especially for the retirees that are coming down here to live. We now have a community of expats that have retired and that are living here permanently, so they are glad to see it. Health-care is an issue they always think of when choosing a retirement destination. Having just an ambulance in Coronado and having to go all the way to the city is a difficult situation. Now with this it makes their decision very easy to come to Coronado to live. Or, to areas around Coronado."Potential for Future Expansion: Rene Diaz, a member of the Board of Directors of of the Clinica Hospital San Fernando said "this project was necessary because in this area of the country there is no private medical service offered for emergencies, and this is a very big area so it was necessary. I think that by starting with a small clinic and an Emergency Room and by offering primary health care services will allow us to start and then potentially expand depending on the level of response and need in the area. There is another project for elderly hospice care like in a nursing home that I think will also be a big success. I've been told that a lot of people who are interested in retiring to Panama are interested in bringing their parents with them and some of them need that kind of quality, speciality care for elderly citizens, and what could be better than having a place to move to like Coronado where they can have a place for their parents as well at a fraction of the cost compared to the United States. There is an area right next to the new clinic designated for this project." I. Roberto Eisenmann III added "when the San Fernando people started talking seriously about this project they started with a concept that included only 150 square meters of structure. When we finished and were ready to sign the contract they were already at 750 meters - CAT scan, lab, pharmacy, etcetera. So, I think they got the idea, and I think they are going to be short in space."Good for the Entire Community: I. Roberto Eisenmann III has been watching Coronado grow and expand for years. "When the opened the El Rey supermarket years ago everybody thought Niki Psychoyos was nuts. We were all used to Chinese people opening up these mini-supermarkets and no one thought it would work. It turns out that they changed the way we do our grocery shopping. Before we used to bring groceries to Coronado and to the beach areas. Now, not only do we not bring anything, because we buy it there, but we buy groceries here to bring back to Panama City. It's just easier and faster to do your grocery shopping here before you go back home after a weekend at the beach. The El Rey supermarket at Coronado sells more per square meter of space than any other supermarket in the Republic of Panama. And with regards to health services I think there will be a potential comparison with the El Rey supermarket. The clinic here will be small, but very efficient, and San Fernando is bringing very much needed health-care services into an area where there is a great demand. A lot of people are talking that this is a blessing for the retirees and the old people. I say 'no, you're wrong.' The retirees can probably withstand a heart attack better than you and I. This is a blessing for anybody - an infant, an adolescent, anybody. So, we are all blessed. It takes two or three minutes for you to die. As I said in the ceremony the most important thing in life is health, and the most fragile thing in human beings is life. You can lose your life in three minutes. So, this gives you tranquility, you know. You're not only going to go to the beach to enjoy yourself, play golf, etcetera, because you are always with the thought 'what happens if....' Like, what if I get an allergy, or a heart attack or something. Now you can relax. Becoming A Reality: Lic. Paula Harris, the Assistant Director of Marketing and Public Relations for the Clinica Hospital San Fernando said "It's really exciting because this is something we've been waiting for in San Fernando for several years, and now finally the project is going to happen. So, we're very excited and we have invited as many people as we could to share in this groundbreaking experience with us, and hopefully soon we will be celebrating the opening of the actual hospital next year. We expect to be opening in May of 2008."Contact Information: For more information about the future health clinic in Coronado, please contact the Clinica Hospital San Fernando:Telephone: +011 (507) 305-6300Fax: +011 (507) (507) 305-7000Mailing Address: P.O. Box 0834-00363, Panama, Rep. de Panama.E-mail: International Relations DepartmentWebsite: Clinica Hospital San Fernando
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