The Social Security System, or Caja, on Monday said that in coming weeks they will begin demolishing seven of the 10 floors of Monseñor Sanabria Hospital in the Pacific province of Puntarenas, which was severely damaged by a strong earthquake on Sept. 5.
Caja experts reached the conclusion that only three floors are safe enough to remaing operational, following the recommendations of technical reports conducted after the magnitude-7.6 temblor that hit the Nicoya Peninsula, in the northwestern province of Guanacaste.
The three floors will remain open to provide medical attention to patients in the Pacific region.
Caja’s plans to build a new hospital in Puntarenas are still in an early stage, as officials announced that the process of purchasing of land where a new hospital will be built is continuing.
Although only one person died during the Sept. 5 quake, it is considered the second biggest in the country’s history, behind a 1991 earthquake measuring magnitude-7.7.
