Helping 400 patients a month with a new physiotherapy pool and renovation in Costa Rica.
Recently Calvin Ayre was in Costa Rica to cut the ribbon on the latest Calvin Ayre Foundation project, a fully functioning physiotherapy pool at the P.A.N.A.R.E. Adult Handicap Hospital and Children’s School. We built washrooms, changing rooms, restored the brick, covered the pool and installed solar heating, vertical and parallel bars to make the P.A.N.A.R.E. pool the only one of its kind in Costa Rica. This past Friday Calvin Ayre was in Costa Rica to cut the ribbon on the latest Calvin Ayre Foundation project, a fully functioning physiotherapy pool at the P.A.N.A.R.E. Adult Handicap Hospital and Children’s School.
The foundation had been looking for a project when they come across the rundown swimming pool at the P.A.N.A.R.E. hospital. Weeds overran the pool grounds, it had its brick crumbling into itself and without any walls, it was unprotected from the cool Santa Ana winds making it unusable for proper therapy. The Calvin Ayre Foundation built washrooms, changing rooms, restored the brick, covered the pool and installed solar heating, vertical and parallel bars to make the P.A.N.A.R.E. pool the only one of its kind in Costa Rica.
At the ribbon cutting ceremony, Calvin Ayre talked about giving back to the community that has given him so much over the years. “I’m very happy to give something back to Costa Rica; I lived here for 10 years. Before leaving in 2006, Costa Rica was very good to me and I still consider it one of my homes, so the opportunity to give something back makes me feel really good.” Ayre continues, “I feel happy about this. I hope the good that comes out of this and the real work that gets done by the people who actually put this facility to into use will be a benefit to Costa Rica.”
The facility staff wasted no time putting the pool into use. During the ceremony, staff and patients were already utilizing the pool for exercises and therapy.
The Costa Rican vice Minister of Heath, Mauricio Vargas said that the pool is attracting attention from other hospitals in the country. “This pool will not only help the people of Santa Ana but help all of San Jose and all of Costa Rica, it will be part of a network where other facilities can send their patients here for treatment.”
The hospital administrators expect to help 400 patients a month in their recovery efforts. The Vice Minister said that by using a pool of this type, a patient is 30% more likely to achieve a full recovery.
Having better medical facilities will grow the local community as the Vice Mayor of Santa Ana said through a translator, “The pool will improve the lives of not only the children of Santa Ana but the country. People will relocate to Santa Ana so that they can be closer to this facility. Thank you to the Calvin Ayre Foundation for its gift.”
“We were looking for a new project for the foundation, helping PANARE was an awesome opportunity to help those who need it most,” said Ayre. “I can’t help but smile seeing the smiles on the patient’s faces, they have a long road ahead but we hope this will ease their journey.”
