Dr. Ana González

Dr. Ana González is a consultant anaesthesiologist at Hospital Roosevelt in Guatemala City — Guatemala's largest public hospital and the main referral centre for the country's national healthcare system. With 12 years of clinical experience, she is one of Guatemala City's experienced anaesthesiologists, managing anaesthesia and pain management across a broad spectrum of surgical specialties.

Guatemala's hospital system faces significant challenges from a high burden of trauma, obstetric emergencies, and surgical disease in a resource-limited setting. In this context, Dr. González plays a critical role providing safe anaesthesia across neurosurgery, general surgery, orthopaedics, and obstetrics.

Her particular clinical interest is in obstetric anaesthesia — providing epidural and spinal anaesthesia for labour and caesarean section at Hospital Roosevelt's busy obstetric unit, which handles thousands of deliveries annually including many high-risk cases. She has developed expertise in regional anaesthesia techniques as safe alternatives to general anaesthesia in obstetric and other surgical contexts.

She consults in Spanish and English.

Dr. González completed her MD at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC) — Guatemala's national public university and the country's most important medical school. She completed her anaesthesiology specialty residency at Hospital Roosevelt, gaining comprehensive training across all surgical anaesthesia subspecialties in a high-volume, resource-limited teaching hospital. She completed continuing medical education through the Asociación Guatemalteca de Anestesiología y Reanimación (AGAR) and the Latin American Federation of Anesthesiology Societies (CLASA). She has participated in WHO Surgical Safety Checklist implementation training and regional workshops on obstetric anaesthesia. Her fellowship-level exposure to obstetric and regional anaesthesia techniques at Hospital Roosevelt — one of Central America's busiest obstetric hospitals — provided her with clinical experience that few anaesthesiologists in the region can match.

Dr. González's anaesthesiology practice covers all types of surgical anaesthesia including general anaesthesia, spinal anaesthesia, epidural anaesthesia, and combined spinal-epidural techniques. Her expertise in obstetric anaesthesia includes epidural analgesia for labour pain management, spinal anaesthesia for caesarean section, and general anaesthesia for emergency caesarean section when regional techniques are contraindicated.

For regional anaesthesia, she performs brachial plexus blocks, femoral and sciatic nerve blocks for lower extremity surgery, and paravertebral blocks for thoracic procedures, reducing the need for general anaesthesia and improving postoperative pain management.

In critical care, she manages ICU sedation, analgesia, and neuromuscular blockade for ventilated patients. She is experienced in difficult airway management and has contributed to Hospital Roosevelt's difficult airway protocol development.

Hospital Roosevelt provides care to all Guatemalan nationals as the country's principal public referral centre and accepts international patients through appropriate administrative channels. International patients visiting Guatemala who require surgical procedures, emergency care, or obstetric services can access anaesthesiology services at Hospital Roosevelt or at Guatemala City's private hospitals, where Dr. González's regional anaesthesia expertise is particularly valued. Guatemala City is connected by direct flights to the United States, Mexico, and other Central American countries, making it accessible for medical visits. Dr. González consults in Spanish and English, and is accustomed to working with international surgical teams and visiting volunteers who participate in operative programmes at Hospital Roosevelt.

Dr. González has been recognised by AGAR (Asociación Guatemalteca de Anestesiología y Reanimación) for her contributions to anaesthesiology practice and education in Guatemala. She has participated in regional CLASA workshops on obstetric and regional anaesthesia and has contributed to safe anaesthesia initiatives at Hospital Roosevelt. Her work implementing the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist at Hospital Roosevelt has been acknowledged by the hospital's quality improvement committee. She is an active member of CLASA's anaesthetic safety working group and participates in regional training programmes aimed at improving anaesthetic standards across Central America's public health systems.