Trip to San Carlos

Few times in the career of a hospital administrator does one get the opportunity to witness just how truly wonderful the health professional can be in times of need. This was one of those times. A few weeks ago I accompanied Dr. Alejandro Ayón, Hospital CIMA San Jose’s Medical Director, on a trip to San Carlos.

The occasion was the annual Medical Congress sponsored by the Costa Rican College of Medicine. After the two-day event, at which our CIMA physicians warmly and respectfully received us and exchanged experiences with their colleagues, we left to return to San José.

On our ride home we saw something that caught our attention in a ravine on a mountain pass. We pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road and Doctor Ayón and I went back down the hill to the spot where a truck had slid off the road. Without hesitation our Medical Director began to hike down into the jungle, through the mud and vegetation, to lend his assistance. There he found the driver, in pain, wedged under his vehicle, surrounded by a group of people trying to help. Dr. Ayón immediately began to administer first aid to the man and asked an observer to lend her coat to help warm the freezing, injured man. Before Dr. Ayón arrived, people were desperate and did not know what to do, now things were under control and remained that way until the ambulance arrived. This good doctor collaborated with the paramedics who did their best work, with an obvious lack of medical supplies. For more than 30 years I have managed hospitals, but in all that time I have never been able to be so close to a situation wherein life was hanging in the balance.

Thank you Dr. Ayón for sharing your professionalism and human caring with all of us!

– Clifton N. Orme, FACHE, General Director, CIMA San Jose Hospital