CABEI Executive President visits financed hospital tower in Costa Rica that was inaugurated in the midst of the pandemic

San José, June 9th, 2021.- The East Tower of the Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia Hospital, located in San José and financed by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), began operations at the end of July 2020, becoming a great reinforcement to the health system in the midst of the health crisis generated by the pandemic.

This was confirmed this Wednesday by CABEI Executive President, Dante Mossi, during a visit to the building in the company of the Executive President of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), Román Macaya, a CABEI delegation and hospital authority, who toured three of the seven floors of the building (four of which hold COVID-19 patients).

"Costa Rica's healthcare system, which centralizes its social security system in the CCSS, has always been a reference in the region and we are pleased to know that we have been involved in financing works of great importance such as this hospital tower, which was ready at one of the most critical moments in our history and which benefits close to 1.5 million inhabitants," said Mossi.

The CCSS executive president, Román Macaya, highlighted: "This tower was enabled on July 24 of the previous year as part of the institutional strategies for the care of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization. It required an enormous effort to expedite the delivery of more beds to provide patients with quality care and according to the severity of their condition. Once the pandemic is over, the infrastructure of tower E will be used for the care of patients of various specialties including: surgery, gynecology and obstetrics."

The construction and state-of-the-art equipment of the East Tower is part of CABEI's US$270 million "Hospital Infrastructure and Equipment Renovation Program," which also includes investments in La Anexión Hospital in Guanacaste and the new Monseñor Sanabria Hospital in Puntarenas.

In the last eight years CABEI has approved three loans to the health sector totaling US$830 million for the construction, modernization, and equipping of Costa Rica's hospital infrastructure.

The most recent was in January of this year for US$500 million to finance investments in the Monseñor Sanabria hospital in Puntarenas, the Max Peralta hospital in Cartago, and the William Allen Taylor hospital in Turrialba. This loan is currently being formalized by the Costa Rican authorities.