I am closest to a hospital that is a private hospital, and is less than a mile away. Another hospital about 2 miles away is also a private hospital. A public hospital is about 5 miles away. The quality of care at most hospitals is excellent, yet the public hospitals have a lower grade of care, a higher population waiting for service and because of the high volume of patiensts, a lower class service to the patient and a longer waiting period for service.

The level of caring for the patient varies, with the highest level of caring at the private hospitals.

The most expensive private hospitals charge a fraction of the price that you would pay in the United States.

The level of care and the success of recovery is so much higher than in the United States in my opinion and in the opinion of both the local people and the expat population.

In addition, there is a freedom of choice of medical care. So Cancer patients are not only offered Chemo, Radiation and Surgery. There are Natural Health healers, Homeopathy and many other practitioners with successful records of reversing serious life-threatening disease conditions.

I would return to Ecuador for any serious health issues, because of the high level of care and the high level of successfully reversing serious health problems. The lower cost is just another bonus available to the patient. Some specialists here are not only trained and certified here in Ecuador, but have advanced medical certification education in other countries.

So you get the benefit of other International modalities.

Yes, we have common prescription medicines available throughout the city at different competing pharmaceutical chains. So you often may find one pharmacy with a competing pharmacy within a block or two.

Prices are a fraction of what you would pay in the States.

Prescriptions are required for most controlled medications, but natural medicines are also readily available.

An example of the costs are from an experience of a gal that was bit by a dog and needed a tetanus shot. In rural Asia where this happened she paid $20. When she got to Europe, she had to pay $800. and when she got home in California, she had to pay $5,000.

These were the same exact medicine and the same brand. It is a popular brand used for tetanus.

I am convinced that health insurance is a scam and that the cost of medical care is a scam in the USA. It has been proven to me by my experiences and the experiences of others in Ecuador and throughout Mexico, Central and South America.

The Allopathic medical system has the worst record in losing patients to life threatening diseases, but the best records in trama cases where you have to air lift a patient to a hospital.

I will only opt for Natural healing methods, which really work.

I have also seen in the rural areas, a free health clinic with Allopathic medical doctors offering 24 hour service 7 days a week, being ignored by the local population, except in trauma cases.

These rural folks go to their local healers and pay a very low fee for herbal and other healing preparations. Why? Because their experience is that the herbal preparations work and also have no side effects.