Healthcare facilities face diverse challenges in Costa Rica and Venezuela

Hospital San Carlos has inaugurated a new outdoor green space designed to support the recovery of mental health patients. The project, which cost 4.5 million colones, provides a safe environment for psychiatric and internal medicine patients to relax, engage in therapeutic activities, and interact with family members outside of clinical wards. Psychiatrist Vivien Mejía Cuevas noted that the space helps manage anxiety and reduce the sense of confinement during hospitalization.

In El Tigre, Venezuela, patients at the Care Dialysis Unit, which is dependent on the Instituto Venezolano de los Seguros Sociales (IVSS), are facing severe conditions due to frequent power outages. Because the facility's air conditioning is not connected to the backup generator, patients must undergo treatment in stifling heat, often relying on family members to fan them with cardboard. Local user committee president Luis Maza has called on municipal authorities to request that the dialysis unit be excluded from electricity rationing plans to ensure patient safety.