Ponce’s San Lucas Hospital pumps $2.5M into facility
Puerto Rico Episcopal Church Bishop Wilfrido Ramos-Orench blesses the hospital’s new facilities Tuesday.
The Episcopal San Lucas Hospital in Ponce unveiled Tuesday a $2.5 million investment in its facilities, where it added a new Fetal Medicine Center, an Intermediate Emergency Room Unit, as well as new nuclear equipment.
The new Fetal Medicine Center is the only one of its kind in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, José Santiago, the Center’s director said.
“This Center is known as ‘hospital-based’ because all services are offered within the hospital facilities. But what makes us unique is that no other hospital offers fetal medicine and perinatology, neonatology consulting, pediatric cardiology, anesthesia and medical genetics services in the same place,” he said. “At the Center, we offer the majority of clinical services a baby and their family could need before, during and after birth.”
During a walk-through of the facilities, hospital officials also unveiled new nuclear medicine equipment, the Spect CT manufactured by Siemens, that provides advanced technology to diagnose patient conditions through bone scans, HIDA scans and cardiology studies.
The new machine is faster and more sensitive than its predecessor, allowing for more specific readings for patients, said Miguel Serpa, director of the San Lucas Nuclear Medicine Center.
Earlier this year, the hospital anticipated its plans to invest in upgrades throughout the facility “to continue reinforcing services.”
As part of the portfolio of new services, the hospital also inaugurated the new Intermediate E Unit in its Emergency Room, which allows the healthcare facility to place admitted patients waiting for a room in private cubicles. The new are will have dedicated admissions staff, to expedite the flow of patients admitted into the ER, hospital officials said.
