As highlighted the in the December 2009 issue of The Voice of Nosara, “the Nicoya Municipality, in partnership with La Fuerza Publica and PROJECT OF ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT aka POUND, called the first of several Nosara and Samara communities meetings…to bring all local community groups, non-profit organizations, churches, schools, businesses and concerned residents together to inform how to apply for municipality funding by creating a community-based development plan”. In Sámara, one of the most popularly prioritized community developments listed at the meetings was extending the hours of operation of the Caja (Costa Rican Social Security) funded ‘Ebais’ (Basic Teams of Integral Health Attention) Clinic through Saturdays and Sundays. Upon investigating the matter, it would appear that although it has been established that medical attention on the weekends is what Sámara residents want, it must first be determined that it is what the community needs before any changes to Ebais operations will be made.

Although Sámara Ebais Coordinator and Medical Doctor J. Fulvio Paniagua A. agrees that “it would be great” to keep the clinic open 7 days a week, he resigns that “we depend on [funds allocated by] the Nicoya Health Area” and therefore require their support in this endeavor.

According to Director of the Nicoya Health Area Tania Tánchez Avila, “the situation must be evaluated” in order to institute “extraordinary schedules” at Ebais Sámara. As it stands the Sámara clinic functions on “primary attention”, operation (Monday-Thursday 7:00am-4:00pm and Fridays 7:00pm-3:00pm) which “does not include emergency services” such as medical attention after hours or access to an ambulance.

Tánchez informs us the first step toward extending the hours of operation at Ebais Sámara is “a formal solicitation in behalf of the community, perhaps collaborated with the Association of Development of Sámara” submitted to her office in Nicoya. She details that it should be a written “letter to the institution noting a request for an internal study which shows the necessity of the services” applied for. She further explains that the solicitation should state “that the community is interested in asking for services outside of the normal [schedule], and a list of reasons why these services are necessary” such as long distances to the Nicoya Hospital, high level of injuries/illness on the weekends etc…

Once the solicitation has been submitted to the Nicoya Health Area “the superior authorities will undergo the eternal study in Sámara (taking in to account) the amount of residents, medical consultations, and amount of funds needed” to implement extended hours of operation in Ebais Sámara. Tánchez was unable to comment on the length of time it would require to determine if medical attention 7 days a week is a justified requisite of the Sámara community once the study has been solicited.