HealthSouth San Juan hospital marks 15th year in P.R.
Daniel Del Castillo, director of HealthSouth San Juan, located within the premises of the Medical Center.
HealthSouth San Juan, the island’s first physical rehabilitation facility to establish itself in Puerto Rico, is marking 15 years of offering services to local residents as well as patients from the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“What started in 1999 with 17 patients beds, today is a hospital that accommodates more than 30 and employs 122 health professionals in the San Juan area,” said Daniel Del Castillo, director of the institution in San Juan located within the premises of the Medical Center.
That facility, along with a second location in Manatí, comprises HealthSouth’s operations in Puerto Rico. The two rehab centers have a combined capacity of 72 patients, while assisting thousands of others through outpatient services.
Prior to its establishment in Puerto Rico, HealthSouth had an office to coordinate patient transfers to the state of Florida, which doubled the cost of stays and other expenses beyond what the average family could afford. So far, the provider has served more than 20,000 patients on the island through its physical therapy, speech pathology, occupational, and other professional services.
“Puerto Ricans needed to have this hospital available to them to be able to provide them excellent service that allowed them to return to work and life,” Del Castillo said.
Most of HealthSouth’s patients suffer from neurological conditions as a result of strokes, head injuries, spinal cord injury, and complex orthopedic conditions, among others. HealthSouth also has contracts with most doctors and the government’s Automobile Accident Compensation Administration, known as ACAA, for patients involved in car accidents.
HealthSouth’s future plans call for increasing its capacity, Del Castillo said.
