Articles

Hospital Vicente Corral Moscoso's budget has been slashed from $49 million to potentially under $31 million. Emergency rooms have less than 50% of essential medications. Doctors are sounding alarms. Here's the situation and what it means for expats.

ETAPA is shutting down the Cuenca-Azogues highway, Panamericana Norte, and the road to Jadán on February 25 from 3:20 to 3:40 PM for rock removal at the Guangarcucho wastewater treatment plant construction site. It's only 20 minutes, but plan ahead.

Ecuador's public health system has a bizarre problem: too many general practitioners and not enough surgeons, anesthesiologists, and specialists. Cuenca's José Carrasco Arteaga Hospital is short on oncologists while 13,000+ patients wait for operations nationwide.

Medicine shortages, payment failures, and overwhelmed hospitals plague Ecuador's public system. But for expats in Cuenca, private healthcare remains remarkably affordable — if you know how to navigate your options.

Cuenca's first rural municipal hospital opens February 1 in El Valle parish. The $8.2 million facility brings 31 medical specialties, two operating rooms, and round-the-clock emergency services to the southern parishes.

Cuenca's largest public hospital is operating at 62% of needed medications and 61% of medical supplies. The Ministry of Health has delivered emergency shipments, but challenges persist.