Great Health Care in Colombia

On November 22, 2009, my husband, Sherman, and I took a cruise from San Diego through the Panama Canal on the Infinity with Celebrity Cruise Line.

A few days into the cruise, my husband started to feel short of breath and had swelling in his legs and feet. We decided he needed to see the physician on board the ship. They found fluid on his lungs and an irregular heartbeat. They diagnosed pulmonary edema and congestive heart failure. The ship’s doctor could not stabilize him and the decision was made to put him into the hospital at the next port which was Cartagena, Colombia. My first thought was this is the drug capitol of the world. I was extremely anxious about this. Language was also a concern as we speak no Spanish and they spoke little English.

The hospital, MediHelp was extremely clean and the staff was very competent, and compassionate even with the language barrier. My husband was in I.C.U. for most of his stay of seven days. He was given the best of care and monitored around the clock.

The very negative experience in Colombia turned out to be one of the most positive experiences due to Daniel Wick and his foundation “Friends For Colombia”, a non-profit organization (http://www.friendsforcolombia.org). Dan met us at the hospital the very day my husband was admitted. Dan became our liaison person between us and the hospital. He and his wife, Berit, have lived in Cartagena for many years, speak excellent Spanish and could interpret all the important information from the doctors. They helped us with our logistic issues, communicating with our family back in the United States and became our friends in a real time of need. The Wicks have formed a volunteer group to help Americans who find themselves in just the predicament we were in. They are invaluable to people in our situation.

We also learned that “Friends For Colombia” focuses on helping visitors learn about and experience the reality of Colombia and especially the great works being done by Colombian non-profit organizations. They offer tours to cruise ship passengers visiting Cartagena to see the work the Colombian non-profit organizations do. They also organize and lead short term trips to Colombia to help with the work of these organizations.

As a result of our experience with Dan and Berit Wick of “Friends For Colombia” and the care provided by MediHelp, we have a new and very positive impression of the country and the people.

We hope the U.S. government and the cruise lines recognize that without these organizations, other passengers in this situation may have a very challenging time. We and our family hope to return to Colombia to experience more of what the country and the people have to offer.

What could have been the scariest and upsetting time in our life, become a positive and life changing situation....

My mother fell on Coral Princess first morning after we left Ft. Lauderdale. She then became nauseous and ill. Two days later we were in Aruba. After we got back from our excursions, my mother became incoherent. We took her to the med center where she stayed for the next two nights. She went through septic shock and they pumped her with 7 liters of fluids. We were then disembarked in Cartagena, Columbia. We rode in an ambulance to Medihelp Serivces where my mother stayed 16 more days. 6 in their ICU and 10 in a regular bed. She had overcome sepsis which could've taken her life, but with the great care of the onboard med center health care professionals and the great care team at Medihelp she made it!

Medihelp was very clean, small, and the people were really warm and kind. Most of the doctors spoke some English. I was really nervous for my mom to have to get care outside the U.S. but the doctor on the ship told us she was in good hands at Medihelp. Not only was she in good help at Medihelp but with the outstanding care and patience of Dan and Berit Wick!

This whole extended stay in Cartagena would've been extremely different from what it was without their help. They were there from the moment we left the ship, got admitted into Medihelp, and when we got to the airport to leave Cartagena to come home. There would be no way we would've even made it home as quick as we did. They gave us a place to stay, fed us, and gave us such great comfort and grace in a part of the world totally different from home. They were such support. Walked us through every step of my mom's recovery working on talking to the doctors and nurses with our concerns. Helps us deal with insurance, which became extremely stressful! Who would've thought insurance was going to be such a mess dealing with while having to worry and be there for a family member getting better.

Thanks to Dan and Berit, we made it back to the states! They were our Cartagena Angels! Not only did they help us and others in similar situations off cruise ships in Cartagena, but they run their own foundations in Cartagena spreading the word of God and presenting a positive example for how giving and kind Americans can be. They do tours on their own dime and show visitors a different side of Columbia you don't realize is there. Cartagena is turning around with the tourism industry, but there are still many issues they are dealing with such as poverty and teen pregnancies.

Dan and his wife are total blessings to the people of Cartagena and those who get disembarked from cruise lines there. If you ever get the chance of meeting these two great people, they are definitely life changers. They are great people! And Columbia is a great country full of positive and warm people! It's not a country to be afraid of at all.

I'm afraid that these two one-time posters sound like an advertisement to me.

I have read several recommendations about Friends for Columbia and they are a great bunch of people.

We arranged a private tour with Dan and Berit Wick on our stop in Cartagena last year on the Norwegian Sea at the end of February

2013. I learned about them through this thread of Cruise Critic.

They arranged such an incredible tour for us! Yes we were able to see the non profit organization they are involved with, but felt like we got to see a very different side of Cartagena than most visitors get to see. They actually gave us gifts to present to senior citizens at a community center and we had the joy of dancing with little children at a neighborhood youth center.

Dan and Berit had also met our ship earlier than morning to accompany a couple who had to be hospitalized.

They are a very special couple with true hearts full of giving!!!!

Jane

I wanted to let you know that on a recent Celebrity cruise, I was treated for pneumonia and then set ashore to a private hospital (Medihelp Services Colombia) in Cartagena, Colombia for further treatment. I spent four days in this Cartagena hospital. Although I resisted strongly being put into a hospital in Colombia, I was pleasantly surprised by how efficient, professional, and friendly the doctors and nurses at the hospital were. I was treated very well by all the hospital staff. The only problem I encountered was the language barrier. The nurses understood very little English. However, I had 4 years of high school Spanish many years ago, and found it of some use in communicating with the hospital staff.

I can't speak about other hospitals in Colombia, but I would highly recommend this hospital if any Americans in Colombia need medical treatment.

I also want to let you know that feeling ill and going to a strange hospital in a foreign country of which you know very little, could be a terrifying experience. Fortunately, my wife and I were met at the hospital by an American expatriate volunteer named Dan Wick, who took us under his wing. Being fluent in Spanish, he was able to provide translation capabilities, helped with necessary paperwork to secure my release from the hospital, and made travel arrangements for us to return home to Florida. He and his wife even had my wife stay in their home, rather than having her abandoned to a strange hotel. Dan and his wife Baret were life-savers, and my wife and I are so appreciative of their help. And they do this out of the goodness of their hearts. They were our "guardian angels". We would have been lost without them.

My mom was on a Holland America Cruise to the Panama Canal in October of this year and fell ill with pneumonia in both lungs. She was disembarked in Cartagena, Colombia, as she needed to be hospitalized. The Holland America Line was aware of the generous volunteerism of Dan and Berit Wick, and contacted them to help with my mom’s unexpected turn of events. From that moment forward, the Wicks were like guardian angels. Dan came onto the ship and introduced himself to my mom—and helped to calm her fears. He accompanied her to the hospital (MediHelp) in Cartagena and helped with translation and the admissions process. Dan contacted me at work in Sacramento, California to inform me of what had happened to my mom. Dan and Berit provided a phone that my mom could use while in the hospital in Cartagena so that she and I could call each other internationally, toll free. Dan and Berit visited my mom in the hospital daily and sometimes several times a day (my mom was in the hospital for ten days). When it became clear that my mom’s recovery was going rather slowly, I decided that I needed to travel to Colombia to be with her and help with her travel back to California. Dan and Berit not only helped me with planning the travel, but also offered to pick me up from the airport and offered for me to stay with them in their home. While my mom remained in the hospital, Dan and Berit continued to help with translation for my mom and the medical staff; provided daily updates to me via phone and/ or email; assisted my mom with things such as purchase of items/ personal effects she needed while in the hospital; and offered my mom companionship and encouragement while she was otherwise all alone in a foreign country. Once my mom was discharged from the hospital, Dan and Berit assisted with the logistics of her discharge, and brought her home with them to stay in their home.

When I arrived in Cartagena two days later, Dan and Berit indeed picked me up from the airport, and brought me to their home. Dan and Berit made us feel very welcome and at home during the time that my mom was recuperating and building her strength back up; even providing meals for us. Once my mom was stronger Dan even took us on a driving tour to see the town of Cartagena. Before falling ill, my mom had planned on (but missed out on) taking a carriage ride through the town. Knowing this, Dan took us on a thorough, personal “guided tour” of the town, which was so thoughtful. A few days later my mom was strong enough for the trip home, and Dan and Berit took us to the airport and helped us with all the logistics of that as well.

I just cannot say enough about the kindness and generosity the Wicks showed my mom and myself—and I know that they do this for countless other folks who are in a similar situation. Remarkably they do this while also maintaining the Friends for Colombia Foundation, where they provide assistance to Colombian non-profit agencies that assist disadvantaged groups in Colombia. Friends for Colombia Foundation additionally brings to the attention of others in the global community the uniqueness of Colombia--but also some of the hardships of a number of its citizens.

Take with a grain of salt, 4 0f the 7 posts are done by 1st time posters.