Guatemalan Healthcare

I have always complained about the medical system in the U.S. I am not alone in this. I do feel very direct effects from suffering from our atrocious healthcare system for sure though. So I thought I would write about my experience with healthcare in Guatemala.

I found their system to be the most efficient system I have ever seen. I do realize that cheap to me is in no way cheap to many Guatemalans, but I still think that my experience in Guatemala compared to the US is illustrative of the atrocious state of our healthcare system in the US.

So I figured that in the last, almost 2 years I have been traveling, there is no way I have escaped getting a parasite. I tried to get tested in the US the last time I was back but it proved to be expensive and ineffective. So I thought I would go in Antigua, Guatemala.

I went into the hospital in Antigua and asked to do the tests. I did not have to have a pointless doctor’s consultation before either. They simply had me go up to the lab where I got to speak to the actual technicians themselves. They handed me two glass Gerber baby food jars (ok, so that is a little disconcerting, especially when I went back for another test the next day because one was irregular and they gave me another jar and told me to rinse it under hot water for 5 minutes, but we won’t dwell on that) and had me hand over stool and urine samples. Then, right away we went down for a blood test. The needle was fresh out of new packaging, clean and the nurse was very efficient.

They told me to come back that afternoon for the results. I did, and not only that, but instead of just giving me a sheet of paper of the results, which they did additionally, but the very guy that read my results was there to explain. The whole ordeal cost me about 8$ US and took 20 minutes in the morning and then another 5 minutes when I came back.

Like I said, there was an irregularity so I had to come back the next day with another urine sample, and the lab tech tested it for free, just in case the irregularity was on their part and because I had misunderstood some of the Spanish. He said it was no problem; he was on a break anyways so he could do it for me then and there. That took 10 minutes and cost me nothing.

Let’s compare my ordeal in the US this winter. I tried to make an appointment with a doctor to refer me to a lab but was in too much pain to wait the allotted time so I went into urgent care. Urgent care did my labs (after a wait time, though I have to admit, throwing up in the bathroom right next to the reception desk did expedite things) only to tell me that I should get the tests done and then see a doctor.

5 days later I got my test results back from the labs.

I think it was 2 weeks later that I was able to get into the doctor, but my memory is foggy on this one. There was the usual waiting room time. The doctor told me he didn’t really know what was wrong with me and offered some weak suggestions.

The whole process took about 2 weeks and I don’t remember numbers but am sure it cost over a thousand dollars. God bless America.