If you’re looking for medical attention in Medellin, you can visit the Emergency Dept. of any of the hospitals (“clinicas”) listed below. These clínicas operate 24 hours, although services may be limited slightly during the night.

Many hospitals (including all those in our selection below) have offices that provide advice to international patients looking to receive specialist medical or cosmetic treatment in Colombia so English is general spoken.

Without local medical insurance, you will be referred to as a “particular” and required to pay for treatment. This may also mean that you get to jump the queue. To be seen by a doctor, you will first be asked to register. Remember to take your passport, and your credit card or enough money, for treatment. You may be asked to pay a deposit in advance, usually about one million pesos. After treatment, you will be given the final bill, where you will need to pay the balance or receive a refund if the treatment was less than expected.

You can expect to pay around 100,000 COP for an average check-up and any special treatment required may be additional.

If you need specialist doctor or physiotherapist etc you should start at the Emergency Dept for an initial check up and they will give you a recommendation to specialist services.

There seems to be pharmacies on most of the major streets in El Poblado, especially on Avenida Poblado and Calle 10. Nearly all of them offer a home delivery service. Most hospitals have pharmacies on site although they tend to be a little more expensive.

At times, the pharmacy may ask if you’d like the original drug or the cheaper generic product - the price difference between the two may be quite significant.

For convenience you can use the Rappi app to order pharmaceutical products.