Costa Rica

Costa Rica has taken the search for improvement of quality health care seriously, and has initiated several activities in that area. The Quality Assurance Project… has provided technical assistance to introduce continuous quality improvement methodology in seven hospitals and clinics in the South Central Health Region. This intervention was expected to result in concrete improvements for specific problems in each of these health facilities, and to serve as a model to be duplicated in health facilities elsewhere in the country. [author’s description]

Most Central American hospitals that provide decentralized HIV services struggle with issues such as weak infection prevention practices, poor nutritional care and persistent discriminatory practices. The Capacity Project is helping national HIV programs in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama to improve performance and supervision systems that will help address these issues. [from author]