A new General Surgery Unit was inaugurated Tuesday at the Adult University Hospital within the Centro Médico de Puerto Rico in Río Piedras. The facility spans roughly 13,000 square feet with 25 rooms (15 private, 10 semi-private), plus isolation rooms for patients needing special precautions, a recreation area for long-stay patients, and documentation spaces for residents, interns, and health science students. The project cost $5.39 million, funded through the hospital's own capital improvement funds, and marks the first comprehensive remodeling of a clinical unit at the hospital in over 15 years.
Governor Jenniffer González Colón said the renovation is not a superficial repair but a comprehensive upgrade benefiting both patients and medical trainees. Separately, officials presented the new Pediatric Renal Center Unit at the Dr. Antonio Ortiz Pediatric University Hospital, already operational, which the institution identifies as Puerto Rico's only pediatric dialysis program.
It serves about 15 active patients—11 on hemodialysis and four on peritoneal dialysis—and expanded from four to five hemodialysis stations plus one isolation station, adding waiting areas, a play room, and a conference room for children and families.