Costa Rica

With so many Americans vacationing in, traveling to, or buying real estate in Costa Rica, many "Ticans" wonder if their country won't soon become the US's fifty-first state. Health travel is huge as well: some 15 percent of Costa Rica's international tourists visit this small, lush country to take advantage of its medical services, mostly cosmetic surgery and dental care. Costa Rica is one of the top five countries most visited by Americans for medical treatment.

With its emphasis on ecotourism and its long history of relative political tranquility, Costa Rica can hardly be classified as a third-world nation. Perhaps no other country offers the recovering health traveler such easy access to leisure activities. Breathtaking national parks of volcanoes and cloud forests are less than an hour's drive from San José, and both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts are easily accessible, with plenty of local and westernized accommodations. For those planning minimally invasive procedures, Costa Rica's proximity to the US and reputation as a tourist destination offer the best of both worlds to the medical traveler.

Three hospitals—CIMA/San José, Clínica Católica, and Clínica Bíblica—are striving to modernize and attract international patients. Clínica Bíblica was the first in the country to achieve JCI accreditation, and more are hoping to join the ranks. Yet, some facilities in Costa Rica are slow in addressing the needs of health travelers: some hospital Web sites are still in Spanish only, and most physicians and staff are not yet "ready for prime time" with English-speaking patients. Lobbies are often overcrowded, with few international patient services facilities compared to the best hospitals in India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Thus, health travelers to Costa Rica should focus more upon the many fine private clinics, which can be found in the capital city of San José and its Americanized suburb, Escazú.

Costa Rica boasts hundreds of board-certified physicians, surgeons, and dentists, mostly practicing in or near San José. Capitalizing on its success in cosmetic and dental surgery, Costa Rica's international medical offerings have expanded to include orthopedics, cardiovascular procedures, eye surgery, and elective procedures, such as bariatric surgery (for weight loss).

One of Costa Rica's health travel specialties is the "recovery retreat," a hotel or ranch-style accommodation that serves recovering patients exclusively. Situated close to clinics, these retreats have all the amenities of a normal hotel, but they are staffed with nurses and interns who attend to the special needs of recovering patients. Transportation to and from the airport is usually included with the cost, as is transport to clinics for consultation and treatment. Guests in these retreats chat at breakfast and dinner about their latest treatment, and a snapshot of the clientele at any point in time is usually a portrait of recovery's progress—from the bruises of yesterday's facelift procedure to the confident smile and gait of the patient heading home.

At a Glance

•   Language   Spanish (English widely spoken)
•   Time Zone   GMT -6
•   Country Dialing Code   506
•   Electricity   120V, plug type A
•   Currency   Colon
•   Recommended Immunizations   Hepatitis A, Typhoid Booster
•   Treatment Specialties   Cosmetic, Dental, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, Weight Loss
•   JCI-Accredited Hospitals   Hospital CIMA; Hospital Clínica Bíblica; Hospital La Catolica
•   Standards and Accreditation   Costa Rica Ministry of Health; American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD); American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID)

 

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