Mulino weighs hiring foreign specialists for new cancer center

Panama may look abroad for doctors, nurses and technicians as it prepares to open its first cancer treatment center in the country's interior, President José Raúl Mulino said.

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We need to create jobs for doctors we can hire abroad to meet the need for doctors, nurses and technicians in the country while we train our own professionals.

Mulino announced the plan while speaking at an event related to an internship law. He said the country does not have all the medical specialties needed for complex procedures and serious cases, including enough nursing and technical staff to assist doctors in surgery and the treatment of children with severe conditions.

The president said foreign professionals could fill the gap while Panamanian workers receive training. He also pointed to shortages in the private sector. An investor in one of the country's largest hospitals told him that the facility had eight million dollars invested in three operating rooms that it could not use because it lacked doctors, nurses and surgical technicians.

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I have eight million dollars invested in three operating rooms that I cannot operate because I do not have doctors, nurses or surgical technicians.

The planned Centro Público de Tratamiento Oncológico Integral is being built on the grounds of the José Félix Espinosa Barroso Hospital in Bugaba, in Chiriquí province. Mulino said it would open in October, during the month associated with cancer awareness, and would require specialists in nuclear medicine and technicians trained to operate its machinery.

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In October, the month of cancer awareness, we are going to inaugurate the first cancer treatment center in the interior in the history of our country.