Total Knee Replacement - Costa Rica – Video Testimonial

”Hi, I’m Charles Rychner. I’m a professional insurance agent in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I was recently advised by my medical professionals in Milwaukee that I need knee surgery, probably a total knee replacement which, unfortunately, from our standpoint, our insurance company was not able to cover the costs.

So we were recognizing that we would have to absorb the cost of surgery, so we sought out other options and explored the issue of medical tourism in various countries and basically after communicating with several providers and resources in various countries, we came to develop a relationship with the hospital in Costa Rica, Hospital Biblica and I was very impressed with their responsiveness and their willingness to facilitate procedures and information and it basically came down to relationships were formed quickly and cemented with trust.

So we made the decision to travel to Costa Rica to have my knee surgery done. It was essentially a medical resort, it’s by the sea. It’s a very attractive place, with the best of care all 24 hours. I was very impressed with the coordinating facility.

The medical staff here is very highly professionalized and the nursing staff has been just wonderful. The care they provide is very very good. I don’t have a lot of comparisons with other places, I haven’t had knee surgery in any other place, so I cant tell you about any other place, but I can tell you that I have no reservations or concerns about the choice I made.

The cost [of knee replacement] compared to the United States where the basic procedure is about $55,000. Here the entire package which includes the cost of the procedure, medications, physician’s fee, nursing, physical therapy, treatment after the procedure for as long as we stayed in the country came to a total of $10,500. If we include the cost of stay at the resort outside the city which is another perhaps 2,000 dollars for ten days.

I highly recommend the place. Including the air fare, the cost came to about $15,000. So, we are talking of a choice between $55,000 versus $15,000. Plus, we got the pleasure of visiting a country which I can highly recommend. Very friendly, very hospitable people, excellent food, very comfortable experience.

My wife is a nurse, professional nurse from the US and she is very critical of medical facilities, she has worked in many hospitals, she currently works in a hospital as a matter of fact where she treats the children. One of the great concerns when working with children is the quality of care, it’s not easy, the care of children is so important. And she regards this facility in the hospital as wonderful. Just everything is so well done. The cleanliness is an example. It’s partly reflected in the attitude of the staff there. Sometimes we are concerned about the attitude of the staff in our own country. But here I see only positive attitude and professionalism.

There were a few moments where the nurse would walk into the room and ask me questions in Spanish and I would say no I’m English it’s Espanol. I asked her if she spoke English, and she said no, but she walked out of the room and came back seconds later with someone who spoke English. So there was always someone available, and of course you have the interface with the people professionally working in the international medical department who were always available 24 hours a day, always available by the cell phones, always willing to get involved, sometimes I would have two or three of them taking care of my concerns and needs at the same time, I can tell you that in the States you wouldn’t get that.

Oh I have an orthopedic surgeon that I work with in the States. He’s an excellent physician. He would have gladly done a surgery for us, but he understood that there were issues with cost and he was very interested in this whole business about going to Costa Rica for surgery. He wants us to know about it as much as possible, he mentioned it to us and our family physician. They have other patients who face similar predicaments, similar issues or questions and may very well want to follow in our footsteps. So, they want to know anything they can find out about it.”

Medical Tourism Corporation hopes this video testimonial of total knee replacement will help you select the right medical hospital, clinic or surgery center. Watch more interviews & testimonials on the medical tourism video page. Medical Tourism Corporation works with state-of-the-art international hospitals (Costa Rica, India, Mexico, Thailand & more), saving about 40~80% over USA medical prices.