but they recommend
going to a public hospital for anything major.
On the other
hand, my wife's aunt, for example, was operated on for a brain
tumor via Sanitas and everything turned out just fine. Also, my wife's cousin's husband recently had a heart attack
at around the age of 40 and he got taken care of just fine via
Sanitas in their private hospital in el Parque Oeste de Alcorcón.
They're just ecstatic with the service.
In any case, if you're a European tourist/English teacher in
Madrid, the best thing to do is to get the proper paperwork
done in your country of origin in order to be able to use the
public health care system here for free, which is your right
as a citizen of the European Economic Community. I think that
the hospital or clinic that you use in Madrid depends more on
your geographical location while here or on what the public
health service in your country says than on any personal choice
or preference.
Apart from the public health system, British teacher/tourists
have Bupa,
which appears to have some sort of arrangement with Sanitas.
If you have Bupa, then all you have to do is to check things
over with them (i.e. take care of the paperwork) before you
come over.
Company
Requires English Teachers
|
|
|
If you're from just about any other country, including the
U.S., you're better off arranging some sort of health insurance
on your end before you even come over. Your health insurance
will probably provide you with a list of doctors or clinics
to choose from.
You should know that you can find private doctors and clinics
at a very reasonable cost here as opposed to the U.S. If you're
going to stay here for very long and you don't come with a health
plan, you should look around for one right away.
You would probably do well to locate the nearest hospital to
go to in case of an emergency. Unlike hospitals in the U.S.,
hospitals here don't seem to have a need to check your insurance
coverage before they'll save your life. (I hear that some Americans
with severe heart problems used to come over and do things to
provoke a heart attack in order to get operated on free.) However,
you might find yourself in the waiting room for 4 or 5 hours
if you go in for routine health problems to some public and
private hospitals.
Lists of Hospitals:
http://www.clinicamoncloa.es/informacion_hosp.htm
Ministry of Health (and consumption): http://www.msc.es/en/home.htm
Something I wrote the last time I had an operation:
I just got out of the hospital this afternoon...
Six years ago I had an appendectomy (peritonitis), which got a
bit rough (a capillary or something kept on bleeding), and I had
to go through a second "clean-up" operation and spend a few weeks
in the hospital. It was a good thing that I had "Social Security",
though I think that here they might have taken care of me anyway
and charged me later. On Tuesday (a couple of days ago), I went
in for a third operation to seal me up inside (a surgical hernia)
in my stomach where some of the second surgeon's work had come loose.
I think I've got about 32 "stapled" stitches.I didn't have to pay
anything six years ago and I don't have to pay anything now. I shudder to think of what could've happened to me in the States. I was paying
$250 a month there for some HMO (Health Maintenance Organization)
and my company was paying at least another $50. What's worse than
that is the fact that they refused to send me to an ear, nose and
throat specialist even though I was foaming at the mouth, and instead
they put me on three months of antibiotics.
When I got here, the first thing I did was get sent to that
specialist, who then sent me to an allergist, who then diagnosed
an allergy to dust and pollen (three years of shots for the
former). I just can't imagine what we'd do here with private
health care like back in the States (though Sanitas works great
here). I won't go deep into it, but for 225 euros a month ("autónomos"
pay this amount to the government monthly.) you get a lot more
than just fantastic health care and I really do think it's fantastic.
I don't know about other Hospitals around here, but the one
in Alcorcón (20 minutes South of Madrid by train) is absolutely
the best!!! I can tell you from personal experience that these
guys and girls are some real pros. My 2 year-old boy was born
there and I was there the whole time. Also, I was awake for
the whole operation on Tuesday (epidural anesthesia) and I was
really impressed. I can also tell you that I think that whatever
you pay as an "autónomo" is worth it and moreso if you have
a family to take care of. I really cannot understand people
who think otherwise ...
Post recovered from hacked forum. March
26, 2005.
Some recommended specialists
Part of the problem when you want to find a doctor of any
kind is knowing who to trust. In my experience, I've come
across both competent and incompetent doctors and you will
have too. The following is a list that I've been building
for quite some time of doctors and other health-related specialists
that people, mostly fellow teachers and students, have recommended
to me. I think they're probably very good, but I can't be
100% sure, of course (that's my disclaimer).
Traumatologist
Dr. Concejero
Clinica Centro Mirasierra at Herrera Horia (near Clinica Ruber
and the M40). He's a traumatologist for the Atletico de Madrid
soccer club.
Traumatologist
Francisco Javier Marquez Dorsch
Centro Medico Nicasio Gallego. Nicasio Gallego 8-10, bajo
902200288.
Osteopath (Like a physiotherapist)
Franck Maze (He's French.)
A professor from Complutense University at Infanta Mercedes
(Bernabeu area). 50 euros. 915792228
Massage: Quiromasaje y Reflexologia Podal
Javier Cañellas
Estudios completos de quiromasaje según la técnica del Dr.
Ferrandiz y reflexología especializada antiestrés y relajación.
Exclusivamente a domicilio sesion de 70 minutos todo tipo
de problemas musculares, circulatoreos, sistema linfático,
estrés ansiedad, celulitis y otros 35 euros por sesión!! Bonos
de 10 sesiones por 290 Euros.
647 59 68 21
Spainexpat: Doctors in Spain - This article in on an external site.
|
