Havana, June 4 (RHC)-- The Havana-based Cira Garcia health center, offering services to foreigners, is expanding services to compete with other similar centers in The Americas.

“We are expanding our services, not only in terms of space, but also in our attention capacity,” said health center director Joaquin Garcia.

The institution was set up in the 1980s to offer health services to the diplomatic corps accredited in Havana. In the 1990s, the facility began to assist not only foreign residents here, but also those who came for medical attention in Cuba.

The health center, which is part of the Cuban heath system, contributed nine million Cuban convertible pesos (similar to U.S. dollars) to the country´s economy. It was a modest contribution to the country and to public health, Garcia said.

In Cuba, medical care is free of charge for the Cuban people, but the health system has on a group of facilities that charge services for foreigners.

The Havana health care center offers services in all clinical and surgical specialties, along with pediatrics and gynecology.