Prospects of first-rate hospital care at lakeside are looking bright following the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ribera Medical Center held Saturday, March 17.
The top-notch private hospital is being built on a 2,800-square-meter lot adjacent to the Chapala-Ajijic bypass, across the road from the El Dorado residential complex.
Present to unveil the hospital’s cornerstone were Luis Antonio Michel Ruelas, general director of the Vallarta Medical Center and Puerto Vallarta business magnate Humberto Famanía Ortega, accompanied by other investors and project architect Julio Marrón. Famanía introduced Dr. Santiago Hernandez-Martinez, founding physician of the ChapalaMed healthcare center who has been named as the center’s medical director, and Julio Carbajal, recruited from San Miguel de Allende as the hospital’s administrator.
Loosely modeled after the Vallarta Medical Center, the Ribera Medical Center will be a full-service hospital, with a focus on emergency care and diagnostics to meet the specific demands of this community, including special attention for patients suffering from heart disease and strokes. It will staffed by accomplished doctors specializing in all major fields of medicine.
According to project planners, the finished building will measure 3,500 square meters in floor spaces, constructed on two levels.
The ultra modern facility will house an emergency room and trauma center, a diagnostic department with CAT scan, 1.5 Tesla MRI and top-of-the line x-ray equipment, a complete laboratory clinic, two surgical theaters and eight suites for in-house patients.
It is also designed to handle emergency transport to Guadalajara by land and air when more advanced medical care is required.
The plans, fully approved by the municipal government, will see the basic structure built with steel to facilitate completion within 11 months after the ground is cleared and leveled.
The target date for opening is February, 2019.