Our medical care provider

The following is taken, in whole, from the Uruguayan embassy website in Washington, DC.   We prefer to post it here rather than link it, as sooner or later, the link will go dead… probably before us …

It describes the Mutualista Espanola..  like Blue Cross… it provides coverage of all kinds of medical services, including drugs, to members.  The interview process is very simple and easy.  My wife, my daughter and myself are all members now.  Our monthly fees are $4500 pesos.. just under U$S200/mo for a family of 3, 2 of us in advanced stages of decomposition   You pay for everything, drugs, emergency visits, doctors, procedures, but at a very reduced rate..  That’s one of the advantages, the nominal fees for services, but the other and more important is you have 24/7 access to all the facilities. 

 The Asociacion Española Primera de Socorros Mutuos is a private Hospital founded on 1853. Nowadays there are about 180.000 associates and 460 beds for patients in admission -61 of them private – taking into account the recent inauguration of our Sanatorium Oscar Magurno Souto with 3 exclusive floors for patients under admission, with other 52 private rooms with TV, Frigobar and breakfast for the patient’s companion.

 

In our hospital, you can also find over 2000 very well qualified professionals and the most advanced technological support in Uruguay and 6 Intensive Treatment Centres: General, Pediatric, Cardiac Surgery, Cardiological, Neurosurgical and Neonatal, in addition to an Emergency Room with 27 beds for adults, 4 for children, and other 4 Specialized Internment Centres that has other 114 beds.

 

Our equipment includes 12 Operation Theaters, remarking the specialized ones in: Cardiac surgery, Highly Surgery specialized in Column (White Room), Neurosurgery and Sterotáxica Surgery, Laparoscópic Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics, in addition to the one in the Emergency Service.

 

In relation with Diagnosis Techniques, we offer our own services with technological equipment of first level mentioning the most important ones among others: Clinical Laboratory, Molecular Biology Laboratory, Radiology, Ecography and Eco Doppler, Hemodinamia equipment with Digital Angiography, Computed Tomografy, Magnetic Resonance, Nuclear Medicine, Isolation Unit with laminar flow camera, Endoscopy Service, etc.  

 

Highly Specialized Medicine Institutes.

 

We also count with 6 HSMI, that are mentioned in details as follows:

• Cardiac Surgery Service, where cardiac surgeries are made, hemodinamias, angioplastics and sten implants.

• Cardiac Electrophisiology Service, emphasizing the same one implants of cardiofibrilators among other procedures.

• Locomotive Surgery Unit: implants of prothesis of hip and knee Apparatus.

• Marrow Bone Transplant Unit (adults and children).

• Chronic and Acute Dialyses Center.

• Burned Patient’s Center.

Our Services.

 

All of our services cover the medical and surgical specialities not depending on the associate’s age. We also cover outside consultations (specialized clinic, address, urgency, emergency) and the patient treatment in our hospital:

• Alergology

• Anesthiology

• Cardiology

• Children Cardiology

• Column Surgery

• Maxillary Face Surgery

• Odontologic Surgery

• Pediátric Surgery

• Plastic and Repairing surgery

• Kidnological Surgery

• Thorax Surgery

• Vascular Surgery

• Dermathology

• Diabethology

• Endocrinoligy

• Phonoaudiology

• Gastroenterology

• Infantile Gastroentherology

• Geriatrics

• Ginecotocology

• Gineco – Onocology

• Hemato Infantile Oncology

• General Medicine

• Internal Medicine

• Nefrology

• Pediatric Nefrology

• Neumology

• Pediatric Neumology

• Neurology

• Neurosurgery

• Neuropediatrics

• Odontolgy

• Ophtalmology

• Pediatric Ophtalmology

• Oncology

• Infantile Ortopethia

• Otorrinolaringology

• Pediatrics

• Asthma Specialized Clinic

• Anticoagulation Specialized Clinic

• Cornea Specialized Clinic

• Arterial Tension Control Specialized Clinic

• Stereotaxics Specialized Clinic

• Specialized Clinic on Menopause

• Specialized Clinic Osteosintesis

• Knee Specialized Clinic

• Fibrilation Treatment Specialized Clinic

• Infected Illneses- Contagious

• Rheumatology

• Dental Radiology

• Psychology

• Psychiatry

• Infantile Psychiatry

• Traumathology

• Neonatal Unit

• Cardiac Insufficiency Unit

• Pethiatric Urology

Serveices that make the difference.

 

General Medicine. In this area the Institution offers 114 professionals which are chosen by he associates.

 

Ginecotologia. Associates will be able to chose out of the 35 specialists we have.

 

Pediatrics. Our Institution counts with the international accreditation that difference us from others, such as the title “Hospital Children´s friend ” granted on August 14^th of 1998, by the Ministry of Public Health, according to initiative of the World-Wide Health Organization and UNICEF. Besides having pediatric doctors in the Central Seat and branches, we also have specialists in all areas: Cardiology, Surgery, Gastroenterology, Hemato oncology, Nefrología, Neumology, Neuropediatrics, Ophtalmology, Ortopethia and Urology.

 

Inferior Tracto Genital Specialized Clinic. It provides last generation equipment, the best experts with a national and international extensive qualification which carries out treatments for uterine neck, vagina, and vulva diseases in an ambulatory way.

 

Specialized Clinic Of Preconceptional Advising And Fetal Malformations Prevention. Unique in the country as much as in public level as in private, and in whose scope the preconcepcional consultation is made that can be more important in the attendance to the health in the context of its effects on pregnancy. 

Center Of Mammary Diagnosis. Where take place the techniques of diagnose for the precocious detection of cancer, treatment and control.

Specialized Clinic Of Adolescent Care. Unique Clinic in the country to offer Customized and Integral Attention through a interdisciplinary equipment, in addition on the exclusive premises where the accent in preventive activities looking for factors or conducts of risk is put that ready to the pathologies or more frequent morbid situations in that etharial group (problems of academic yield, alterations of humor, problems of conduct and nutritional disorder, difficulties in the familiar relationship, etc.), offers in addition advising in the area to sexual education, prevention of accidents, normal process of the puberty.

Center of Quality of Life. The first and only Preventive – Educative Center, in charge of athletical doctors, cardiologists, nutricionist and professors of physical education, that the factors of risk through progressive routines of physical exercises and plans of nourishing reeducation diminish. They count for it with four (4) gymnasiums equipped with eight (8) ergometric s tapes, twelve (12) bicycles and eight (8) equipment of sound-ranging monotorizaction, added to the comfort that offers two (2) masculine clothes and two (2) feminine ones.

 

Psycology & Psychiatry. In this one area our institution offers psychological evaluation, psycotherapy, specialized attention for adolescents and psycology for oncologic patients. Between the therapies that are applied we emphasized: individual, group, and couple.

Specialized Clinic of Tobacco Adiction. It develops a program for different etharial groups to obtain the cessation of consume of tobacco.

 

Specialized Clinic on Diabetology. It includes, in addition to the specialistic professionals, a multidisciplinary equipment for support made of: podology, psychiatrics and psycologist.

Specialized Clinic on Alcohol and Drug Adiction. Specialized clinic in charge of treatment of the illegal use of drugs and alcohol which an interdisciplinary team specialized in recovery and treatment of patients with addiction problems.

Unit of Cardiac Insufficiency. Unique service in the country in promoting a modern, and efficient treatment of the patient with cardiac insufficiency. It includes diagnosis stages and pharmacological therapy, surgical therapy and as much as electrical therapy, as well as the evolutionary control, trying to improve the quality of life of the patients with this pathology.

 

Neonatal Unit. This service offers to the new born a progressive and continuous care, assisted from the intrauterine stage to its birth, attention to the mother – son, intensive cares and promotion of lactancy.

Psicogeriatric Center. Unique service dedicated to the patients of the third age who need specialized psychiatry and psychological attention.

Hospi Saunders I y II. Unique centers of palliative cares with active attention of the patients whose disease does not respond to treatments, with therapeutic services conceived to respond to physical, psychic, social and spiritual necessities.

Rehabilitation Center. This center, also unique, precociously rehabilitates the patient who has been taken part of his locomotive apparatus (prothesis of hip, rolls and shoulder) and offers complementary rehabilitation in patients who have undergone great neurological and neurothraumatological events.

Pediátric Cardiosurgery. This service has the best professionals of the country, supervised permanently by professionals of San Pablo, center of world-wide reference in this discipline.  

Laboratory of Clinical Analyses. In our own laboratories the following disciplines are developed: molecular, biochemical biology, citogenetics, cytology, citometry de flow, hematology, inmunology, microbiology and parasitology. Also our branch at solymar (canelones) has a complete laboratory. As much as the laboratories of our central seat as the one in solymar, is connected through a computer system that allows a quick comunication of the information that shortens the times of results and increases the fidelity of the data.

 

PADO (Program of Domiciliary Attention). Its primary objective is to maintain at home the patient that needs second level of care, giving him a customized medical attention and an enfermary support that improves its quality of life during the acute disease or the acute descompensación of a chronic illness.

Odontholgy. It ´s objective is to promote the buccal health, offering the necessary services to obtain: educative, preventive, welfare helth and surgiry. all the doctor’s offices are equipped with last generation technology: pump and micromotors, turbines, sterilizers, , electrical anatomical armchairs, fotocured lamps of suction. We also have laser beams equipment Er-YAG and all the necessary infrastructure for its use.

Woman’s Center. A center that reunites all the specialties so that the women can receive attention (clinical and paraclinic) in a single place.

 

Secondary Branches, and Doctor’s Offices. Doctor’s offices. The institution counts on 5 zonal units and a service of physical therapy. Incorporating these units of ambulatory medical services, closest took to the remotest districts branches for better access for the associate. In each unit, it had a medicine office, with 400 to 500 pharmaceutical specialties, that are those that asks for and prescribes the doctors of each specialty in each zonal branch. It also had the necessary ones to certain medical emergencies.

Cell phones

There are 3 carriers in Uruguay. Ancel (the incumbent), Movistar and CTI. Google them for for their websites and relevant pricing information. They have material on both contract and prepaid phones.  Ancel, being the original telco, is more expensive (majority opinion), Movistar’s in the middle and the new kid on the block, CTI seems to be the cheapest. The vast majority of Uruguayans use prepaid cards. You’re in good company there. That’s easily done and you can get cards in almost every corner store. Your problem will be the phone and chip.

 I know that you can buy phones in all the agencies around town. There are piles of them. Just walk 10 blocks in either direction of most of Montevideo and you’ll pass a few. I bought my daughter’s at Motociclo. http://www.motociclo.com.uy/motociclo/. You can get a phone for U$S20.00 and that includes 300 text messages and $200 worth of voice.

I dont know if they’ll sell you one on a passport. Unfortunately, every time we bought a phone here, I was with my wife and she used her cedula.  Going to have to research that and update the post. 

OK. so now you have the phone which automatically comes with a SIM. You can either buy a phone card in the same store or go to one of the corner stores. For rates, check the websites for the 3 providers above.

The other option, and the one I used starting a few years back is just to buy the chip here and use your phone from up north. If you have a world phone (4 frequencies) and it’s not blocked, you’re in business. If it’s blocked, it may be worth it to take it to a local shop here and have it unblocked. Probably less than buying the U$S 20 phone.  If you want to an unblocked phone, search the web.  There are hundreds of companies selling them on the web. 

One catch.. if you want to use your phone here in Uruguay, you have to declare the phone when you enter Uruguay. You pay a few bucks. They give you a paper that says it’s authorized to use here. You go to the centro offices for the provider you want to use in Uruguay, eg. Ancel, Movistar or CTI. Show them your document and your phone. They’ll sell you a chip for $50 (that’s pesos) and away you go.

There is very little in the way of minute offers here. With prepaid phone service, you pay by the minute, you buy ‘x’ minutes. That’s it. Even contracts here aren’t that competitive.  There are plans that give you a discount if you talk within the network and if it’s one of 5 friends and if it’s your grandmother/grandfather and a plan for under 21 year olds, but you wont see the volume discounts and you surely wont see unlimited calling.  I figure that’s years away.  That’s why everyone in Uruguay uses SMS to communicate… not talk.