Finally, it’s open!

Main entrance on Calle #1

Finally, the new Hospital Comunitario de Isla Mujeres is in operation.  The hospital construction project was started during the administration of Presidente Alicia Rincaldi and languished from lack of funding through the administration of Presidente Hugo Sanchez, coming to completion under Presidente Agapito Magaña.  

It’s a beautiful facility located on the corner of Rueda Medina and Calle Paseo de los Peces, across from the large palapa entrance to the Hacienda Mundaca historical park. 

Doctor Zapata & Jorge Avila

Our friend, Jorge Avila who is the Coordinador de Sanidad Internacional for Isla Mujeres met us in at the entrance and introduced us to the Hospital Director, Doctor Zapata.   Doctor Zapata is an orthopaedist, and also specializes in trauma injuries.  It’s good to know he’s is available to assist with life-threatening problems.

As we started our tour of the hospital, Jorge explained that we were allowed to take photos inside, only today, as the final installation of equipment and the sterilization of the operating suites was taking place and many of the areas would soon be off-limits to the public.   Even so, we didn’t take photos of the patients as we didn’t want to infringe on their privacy.

There are ninety-five people employed by the hospital; three doctors in general admissions, and two doctors in the emergency area.  The hospital has its own pharmacia, (pharmacy) a vaccination room, and a place for island children under the age of twelve to receive free monthly check-ups and vitamin milk. There are also new x-ray and ultrasound laboratories.

 

X-Ray room

A new hyperbaric chamber is due to be delivered soon to facilitate treatment for a variety of problems.  Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) squeezes the oxygen molecules to allow more oxygen to enter the blood stream, and increasing the healing ability of the body.  It is used to treat deep water decompression sickness, the complications of diabetes, radiation treatment burns, and broken bones that are not healing properly.  The existing hyperbaric chamber in centro is funded by the fishing cooperative, and will remain available for the fishermen’s use.

Surgery

Another interesting bit of information we learned is that restaurant workers must be tested every six months for hepatitis and salmonella.  

The hospital has a separate lab with its own entrance to accommodate the huge number of islanders involved in the restaurant industry.  

On the second floor of the facility are several private and semi-private rooms for recuperating patients, as well as the administration offices, and segregated dormitory rooms for future employees. 

Delivery room for babies

The maternity area was most impressive with the delivery room, recovery room, a separate area for newborns.  I can’t begin to name all the fancy equipment and machines that we saw but they certainly looked important.  

Fortunately the hospital is air conditioned so perhaps the normal rust and corrosion problems that are common here on Isla won’t be such a challenge.  At our house anything electronic has a very short life span.

More cool stuff for newborns!

As for what additional equipment they need Jorge said he is coordinating requests with the Seniors and Friends of Isla, a group made up primarily of expats who have been coming to Isla for many, many years.  

Here’s their FaceBook page link: https://www.facebook.com/islamujeresseniorsandfriends?fref=ts or you can always contact me for the email addresses of Gary, or Denis, or Andy. 

One thing Jorge did mention is the need for good quality type-three cardiac stethoscopes.  On average a stethoscope only last a few months due to salt, humidity and corrosion.   Just an idea if you are looking for a way to contribute to the community. 

So, fingers crossed Lawrie and I won’t need to personally check the quality of emergency care at the new hospital but it is reassuring to know that we have a beautiful, new facility just a few minutes away. 

Hasta Luego

Lynda & Lawrie

Hospital Comunitario de Isla Mujeres 

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Any errors with the information in this post are my fault!  It’s my darn Spanglish that tangles me up!

Walking: here, there and everywhere

Heading out for a walk early in the morning

Slurping down my second cup of wake-up coffee I can hear my friend Marcy’s voice outside my front door: “hola, hola.”  She’s come to collect me on her morning walk.  Marcy is much more committed to exercise than I am.  I need to be pushed into a routine.  We typically head south on the Caribbean side, cut back west through the Colonias, and then walk around the pathway of the Salinas Grande before returning home. 

Fruit vendor at south end of Salinas Grande

Along our route we pass the fruit vendor’s makeshift stand tucked under the roomy shade of the trees at the southern end of the Salinas Grande.  

She has tables and free-standing boxes stacked with fragrant fresh vegetables and fruits, protected by an assortment of tattered old tarpaulins strung in the branches.

In the shallow marshy end of Salinas Grande there is a variety of birds; herons, storks, cranes, cormorants, a type of duck, and spoonbills paddling and hunting in the muck. 

Various birds in Salinas Grande

Further on a very sweet little pit bull-cross plays with us, begging for pats and belly rubs. We trek past a number of congenial young men having a quiet morning beer or two, chatting with friends, and enjoying the peace of early morning.  

They greet us with Buenos Días, and a smile.  Perhaps they are thinking that their way of beginning the new day or finishing the previous night is preferable to our method.

Pat me please!  (M.Watt photo)

Marcy and I are just two people out of the dozens who stride up and down, or around, the island in the attempt to stay active and reasonably fit.  Every day there is a steady stream of people passing our house. The long-legged former vice-principal of the high school, who now works in Cancun, marches past around six in the morning, with his arms swinging enthusiastically to increase his heart rate.  He returns an hour later, saluting a greeting as he passes our house.  

A little later on, another local couple and their sweater-covered lap dog do the same route from the Colonias into centro and back.  The little poodle manages to keep up most mornings, although occasionally on very hot days he gets a ride in the arms of his accommodating human.

Mango Café - "smoking chair"

Earlier this week, while Marcy was away, I trudged to the south end of the island to feed two kitties (not cats, I’m told) whose humans were out of town for a few days.  

Along the way I snapped a few photographs; the colourful smoking chair outside Mango Café, the group of workers lengthening the ocean side path, the four-year-old sign for the still unfinished General Hospital, and the construction of a beautiful stone wall in front of Isla 33 condos.  

Fifty minutes later I had reached my destination, chugged down a bottle of water, then fed and played with the kitties.  Retracing my route, I had planned to catch a taxi home.  

Four-year-old sign - General Hospital still unfinished

I soon discovered that on the Caribbean-side of the island there are so many walkers, joggers, and dog-walkers that taxis are few and far between.

Everyone is focused on exercise.  They don’t want or need a ride.  I was footsore and sweaty, and about halfway back to our house before a taxi appeared. 


Ah well, by the time I got home I felt righteous, very righteous, for all of my exercise.  

At lunch time I indulged in an order of tasty beef fajitas and a cold beverage at the Soggy Peso, with Lawrie, my other walking partner.  

He usually ambles around the various island neighbourhoods with me. 

Marcy, on the other hand, sets a brisk pace.   We hustle!