The Costa Rica Real Estate Expert

Last updated February 12, 2008 

Costa Rica has an excellent healthcare system that consists of private and public (government run) medical facilities.

Here is an ever-expanding list of medical facilities throughout Costa Rica:

Cartago

Clinica Biblica (satellite site)
Phone:  506-551-0511

Doctor on site, as well as a pharmacy. 

Heredia

Clinica Biblica (satellite site)
Phone:  506-260-4959

Doctor on site, as well as a pharmacy.

Jaco

Clinic CARE
Phone:  506-643-4300
Email:  emergenciascare@racsa.co.cr

This is a private clinic intended primarily for emergency care, also offering ambulance transport services to larger facilities in San Jose.

Clinica Hospital Santa Catalina (satellite site)
Phone:  506-643-5059
Email:  info@gruposantacatalina.com
Website:  http://www.gruposantacatalina.com/eng/index.php
Location:  400 este Pops Jacó, Puntarenas

This is a satellite facility of the much larger Clinica Hospital Santa Catalina located in San Jose.  This facility boasts many English speaking, qualified dentists and doctors

San Francisco de Dos Ríos

Clinica Biblica (satellite site)
Phone:  506-218-0035

Doctor on site, as well as a pharmacy.

Clinica Hospital Santa Catalina (satellite site)
Phone:  506-218-1717
Email:  info@gruposantacatalina.com
Website:  http://www.gruposantacatalina.com/eng/index.php

Location:  San Francisco de Dos Ríos, del parque Okayama 50 sur

This is a satellite facility of the much larger Clinica Hospital Santa Catalina located in San Jose.  This facility boasts many English speaking, qualified dentists and doctors

San Jose

Clinica Biblica (main facility)
Phone:  506-522-1000 or 800-911-0800
Fax:  506-258-7184
Email:  info@clinicabiblica.com
Website:  http://www.clinicabiblica.com
Insurance:

• Blue Cross/Blue Shield
• Cigna International
• Aetna Global
• United HealthCare
• Prudential
• Humana
• Secure Horizons
• See more…
• Expects to be affiliated with Medicare in 2008

Staffed with highly trained doctors.  Facilities include an ER, maternity ward, MRI equipment, and a lab.  The hospital is currently adding a large, new wing. 

Clinica Biblica also has an International Department to specifically provide excellent customer service tailored to the foreigner.  They also have a corporate partnership with HomeWatch, which provides specialized home care services for the elderly, patients recovering from surgery, people recovering from plastic surgery, and a host of other situations.  Check with your long term care insurance plan to see if they will cover the services from HomeWatch.

Clinica Catolica (a.k.a. Hospital La Catolica)
Phone:  506-246-3000
Fax:  506-283-6171
Email:  info@clinicacatolica.com
Website:  http://www.hospitallacatolica.com/eng/indexeng.html
Location:  Guadelupe, suburb of San Jose.

Complete hospital and emergency services 24/7. 

Clinica Hospital Santa Catalina
Phone:  506-250-5059
Website:  http://www.gruposantacatalina.com/eng/index.php
Location:  Costado Este de la plaza de deportes de Gravilias, Desamparados, San José

This private hospital provides emergency services, dentistry, opthalmic services, gynecology, dermatology, cardiology, and a number of other medical services.  They also boast a medical imaging center and a pharmacy which is open 24/7. 

Clinica Hospital Santa Catalina also has satellite offices in San Francisco and Jaco.

Hospital CIMA San Jose
Phone:  506-208-1000
Fax:  506-208-1001
Email:  cima@hospitalcima.com
Website:  Click here to view the English version of CIMA’s website, translated by Google.
Location:  Escazu of San Jose.  See map.

CIMA is the most well known medical facility in all of Costa Rica, and for good reason.  It was built around 2000 and is affiliated with Baylor University in Texas.  CIMA has all the modern conveniences of a hospital in North America, with high tech equipment and well trained doctors and nurses.

CIMA provides emergency services, surgeries, laboratory services, psychiatry, physiotherapy, medical imaging, a pharmacy, and numerous other services.

San Pedro

Clinica Biblica (satellite site)
Phone:  506-283-6058
Location:  San Pedro mall

Doctor on site, as well as a pharmacy.

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Costa Rica’s Tourism Board (ICT) has just released its 2007 year end tourism statistics.  Here are some of the highlights:

1. Crime against tourists dropped 26%

2. Tourism rose by 11.5%

3. Total of 1.9 million people (tourists) visited Costa Rica

4. $1.9 Billion in Tourism Revenue, up 300 million from last year.

5. 100 New ICT Police Officers added

6. Jaco has granted $800,000 more dollars for next year to hire more police.

These are some exciting numbers, and just confirmation of what we have been saying - that tourism is continuing to grow in Costa Rica.

Even more exciting is that crime against tourists has gone down.  Typically, tourists fall victim to petty theft, mostly because they aren’t using common sense and they fall prey to small time thieves who target tourists.  But with the addition of the new ICT police officers who work in conjunction with local police forces to keep tourists safe, these crimes have gone down.  Quick justification for these new police officers.

And it appears that in response to this resounding success, the town of Jaco has set aside funds to beef up their ICT police officers, continuing their dedication to improve this great tourist town.

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It is undeniable that Costa Rica is a beautiful paradise.  If you question this statement, just look at the Costa Rica tourism statistics (tourist arrivals grew by 15.6% in 2005), or ask someone who has been there.  Most visitors to Costa Rica have been there before and return because it is a Latin American paradise.

People have been visiting Costa Rica for years, but it is only in the past 10 years that it has gained such worldwide visibility.  But before this happened, many seniors had found Costa Rica to be a retirees paradise.

Retirees

Along with investors, retirees make up one of the largest groups to buy real estate in Costa Rica.  Small communities of retirees have sprung up over the past 20 years all around Costa Rica.  Each of them came to Costa Rica and discovered that it was a wonderful place to retire, with its low cost of living, excellent weather, plentitude of activities, and its laid back lifestyle.

Before these retirees discovered Costa Rica though, they did have several common concerns:

Safety

Personal safety is probably one of their top concerns.  In fact, this is a top concern for anyone traveling ANYWHERE.  The good news is that Costa Rica is a very safe country.  Petty crime has gone up - consisting mostly of stealing.  But violent crime is still much lower than any of the major US cities.  Of course, a little bit of common sense is always helpful for staying out of trouble, no matter where you are.

Real estate developers recognize this fear, and have addressed this in their developments by offering gated entrances and oftentimes 24 hour, on site security.  Obviously this will do its job to keep crime rates low, but for the most part it is more to provide a sense of security.

World Class Healthcare

Costa Rica has a world-class healthcare system with many US-trained physicians, providing affordable healthcare for all in private and public facilities.  This is of great interest to retirees whose other concern is the quality and availability of healthcare.

Retirees who are considering Costa Rica as a retirement spot will be pleased to learn that not only is Costa Rica’s healthcare inexpensive, but that most private facilities will also accept foreign medical insurance.  In addition, new healthcare facilities are being built all over the country.

Lenient Residency Rules

Many retirees may not retire to Costa Rica full time, but possibly only for part of the year.  Either way, the Costa Rican government’s residency rules are quite lenient - especially for retirees.  For example, a retiree can stay in the country for up to 3 months with nothing other than their passport!  No visa or any other paperwork!  If they wish to stay longer, they can leave the country, re-enter after 72 hours, and stay another 3 months.  Of course, this practice is discouraged if it is done over several subsequent times.  Doing this once or twice a year is okay.

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