{"id":15004,"date":"2026-07-25T19:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T00:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/?p=15004"},"modified":"2026-07-25T14:41:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T19:41:29","slug":"panama-cancer-hospital-made-medical-history-with-international-accreditation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/health\/panama-cancer-hospital-made-medical-history-with-international-accreditation\/","title":{"rendered":"Panama Cancer Hospital Made Medical History with International Accreditation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The needle moves with precision, guided by real-time images, and a liver tumor shrinks without a single large incision. For patients at Panama\u2019s National Oncology Institute Cancer Hospital, such minimally invasive miracles now come with an unprecedented seal of approval. This month, the institute became the first public oncology hospital in Latin America to earn accreditation from the International Alliance for Services in Interventional Oncology, an organisation based in Vienna that sets the global benchmark for image-guided cancer treatments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The journey to this recognition wasn\u2019t a brief sprint. It spanned more than two years of relentless audits, protocol overhauls, and a complete rethinking of how a multidisciplinary team delivers care. A team of over 20 professionals, led by Dr. H\u00e9ctor Tapia, the hospital\u2019s head of imaging and interventional radiology, had to prove that a public institution could match the rigour of elite private centres anywhere in the world. Documents reviewed by the Ap<\/a> news agency showed that the certification process scrutinised everything from clinical infrastructure to patient safety checklists and staff training programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Holding
Holding Certificate at The National Cancer Institute of Panama obtains IASIOS international accreditation Credit ION Gob PA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Two Years of Relentless Evaluation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Julio Santamar\u00eda, the institute\u2019s director general, didn\u2019t mince words about the effort involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cOur interventional radiology team took two years to be evaluated by this body to improve the clinical practice of treatment. They achieved it, and today we receive this accreditation\u201d [Translated from Spanish]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The evaluation wasn\u2019t a rubber stamp. IASIOS assessors dug into the minutiae of everyday care, verifying that protocols for tumor embolization, needle ablations, and targeted drug delivery met standards normally associated with well-funded private sector giants. The team had to document everything, from how patients are prepared before a procedure to the follow-up protocols that catch complications early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insiders describe a cultural shift. The radiology service restructured its workflow so that oncologists, surgeons, and imaging specialists now review cases together, weighing each patient\u2019s risks before settling on a treatment plan. This multidisciplinary approach, a core IASIOS requirement, has already begun reducing hospital stays, officials said. The accreditation, much like the rigorous interoperability standards set by alliances like Nato<\/a>, demands that all parts of the system speak the same language and adhere to the same uncompromising benchmarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n