Centro Médico Bournigal

Centro Médico Bournigal is one of the main private hospitals on the north coast and the facility many hotels and travel insurers in the Puerto Plata area work with. It traces its roots to a clinic founded in Puerto Plata in 1959 by Dr. Otto Bournigal, and today it is part of Grupo Rescue, which runs its international patient service under the Rescue Concierge name.

The hospital offers 24-hour emergency care and a 24-hour clinical laboratory, plus a wide range of specialties on staff, including emergency medicine, general and laparoscopic surgery, orthopedics and traumatology, cardiology, pediatrics, gynecology and obstetrics, intensive care, radiology, dermatology, and family and travel medicine. For the kinds of problems travelers most often face, such as cuts from reefs and rocks, sprains and fractures from water sports, dehydration, stomach bugs and allergic reactions, it is well equipped.

For international visitors, the key service is the international department, which assists patients in Spanish, English, German and French. The hospital lists a long roster of international insurers and assistance companies it works with, including AXA, Allianz, Europ Assistance, Assist Card, United Healthcare, GMMI and Global Excel, among others, as well as the main Dominican insurers (ARS). If you have travel insurance, call your insurer's assistance line as early as possible so they can coordinate directly with the hospital; that often avoids paying upfront. Without insurance, expect to pay before or during treatment.

Address: Calle Antera Mota, corner of Calle Dr. Zafra, in central Puerto Plata. Main phone: (809) 586-2342. WhatsApp: (829) 679-3155. Appointments are scheduled Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm; emergencies are seen around the clock.

Distances: the hospital is about 10 to 15 minutes from the Playa Dorada and Costa Dorada resorts, about 30 minutes from Sosúa and roughly 40 to 45 minutes from Cabarete, more in traffic. Río San Juan is well over an hour away, so travelers there should know the nearest local clinic as well.

For a life-threatening emergency anywhere in the country, call 911 first. Ambulance response times can be slow outside the cities, and for many situations a taxi or hotel vehicle to the hospital is faster.

Who should go here: travelers in the Puerto Plata area with injuries or illness that need a doctor, imaging, lab work or admission, and anyone whose insurer directs them here. For minor issues, your hotel doctor or a local pharmacy may be enough.