The protesters expect Ramos to designate the property and begin construction of a new medical center because the former one in the city collapsed.

The Minister of Health, Arturo Bendaña, had publicly pledged in January to make arrangements to start a project to build a new hospital in Puerto Cortes, saying, “With great pain I say, of the 25 hospitals I visited in the country, this city has the worst of all. Its structure is very poor. But, we have a goal in my administration, that locals all enjoy a building that meets all conditions, with modern equipment, and qualified and sufficient human resources to provide excellent medical care to the population.”