Guides
How to find a CDT (diagnostic and treatment center) in Puerto Rico
To find a diagnostic and treatment center (CDT) in Puerto Rico, call your municipality's health office, check your health plan's provider list or ask at your pharmacy, and call before you go: hours and services differ from one CDT to the next. A CDT is not an emergency room. For an emergency, call 911.
Is it an emergency? Call 911.
Pay now, then choose your time right away. Full refund if you cancel 24 hours or more ahead.
See the cancellation policy
You can cancel for a full refund or change the time up to 24 hours before your visit. Within 24 hours you can't cancel and there's no refund. If you don't join in the first 10 minutes, there's no refund.
If you choose a time less than 24 hours away, it can't be cancelled or changed.
If the clinic can't see you, for example because of a technical problem on our side, we refund you in full.
Is this an emergency?
This is not an emergency service. Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room if you have:
- Chest pain or pressure
- Trouble breathing or blue lips
- Drooping face, weakness on one side of the body or trouble speaking
- Bleeding that will not stop, or a serious injury or head blow
- Seizure, fainting or severe confusion
- Thoughts of harming yourself: call 988 or the Línea PAS
Help lines
Diagnostic and treatment center in Puerto Rico: where to look
There is no single, always up-to-date list of every CDT (Centro de Diagnóstico y Tratamiento). These are the most reliable routes, most to least direct:
- Your municipality's website or health office. Many CDTs are municipal; the municipality often publishes the phone and hours.
- Your health plan's provider list, if you have one. Ask which CDTs are in your network.
- Your pharmacy or your regular doctor, who often know which CDT handles what you need.
What to ask by phone before you go
CDT hours and services change, and not every CDT has an urgent care room. Before you leave, call and ask:
- Do you take walk-ins or do I need an appointment?
- What are your hours today and when do you stop seeing patients?
- Do you have an urgent care room, X-ray or lab, depending on what I need?
- Do you accept my health plan, or what does a visit cost without one?
- Do you see children or only adults?
- What should I bring (ID, plan card, list of medicines)?
A CDT is not an ER
A CDT (Centro de Diagnóstico y Tratamiento) is an outpatient health center, often run by the municipality. For how it differs from an emergency room and when to use each, read our guide to ER vs urgent care in San Juan.
When not to go to a CDT: go to the ER
If you have chest pain, trouble breathing, signs of a stroke, bleeding that will not stop, a serious injury, a seizure or an allergic reaction with swelling of the face or throat, call 911 or go to a hospital emergency room. An ER must evaluate you even if you cannot pay (the federal EMTALA law, for hospitals that take part in Medicare). The full list is in when to go to the ER.
When a video visit saves you the trip
Many reasons people go to a CDT can be handled by video: a cold, cough or flu without trouble breathing, fever without warning signs, urinary infection symptoms, allergies, rashes, or a sore throat or earache. Online urgent care is for problems that are not emergencies, and you can also book an online doctor visit or a prescription refill for a non-controlled medicine you already take.
The doctor evaluates you and, if appropriate, recommends treatment; if a test is needed she gives you a lab order for a lab near you, and if your case needs to be seen in person she tells you where to go. We are not a CDT and have no office: we see patients by video, in Puerto Rico.
What a CDT is for and what video handles
A quick guide. If in doubt, treat your case as more serious, not less.
- A wound that needs stitches, a sprain, a possible broken bone or a same-day X-ray: CDT or urgent care center (call first).
- Vaccines, tests done in person or a physical exam: CDT or your regular doctor.
- Cold, cough, fever without warning signs, urinary infection, allergies, rash: [urgent care by video](route:service-urgent-care).
- You ran out of a non-controlled maintenance medicine: [refill by video](route:service-prescription-refills).
- Chest pain, shortness of breath, signs of a stroke: 911.
If you live in one of these areas
We have area guides with pharmacies, verified emergency rooms and how to get a video visit. Start with your region in the area guides, or with Río Grande and Luquillo, Trujillo Alto and Canóvanas or Bayamón and Cataño.
Book a video visit
If what you have is not an emergency and you would rather not leave home, book your visit. You see Dr. Diana Nieves Castro, MD, a Puerto Rico-licensed general practitioner, in Spanish or English. Every day, any time (Puerto Rico time). Visits are private and are not recorded. See the pricing.
How we care for you
We evaluate, diagnose and treat; if needed, we give you a lab order for a lab near you.
We see adults and children of all ages. Patients under 21: a parent with patria potestad (parental authority) or a legal guardian is on camera for the whole visit and shows photo ID.
Real-time video visit. We send you a secure video link. It works on your phone, tablet or computer.
If appropriate, the doctor prescribes and we send your prescription to your pharmacy.
You must be physically in Puerto Rico during the visit (visitors, tourists and cruise passengers are welcome).
In an emergency, call 911.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find a CDT's phone number?
Does every CDT have an urgent care room?
Are any CDTs open 24 hours?
Are you a CDT?
Can I use a video visit instead of going to the CDT?
About this page
Author: The Health Initiative
Medical care provided by Dr. Diana Nieves Castro, MD (PR license 24027)
Disclosure: Founding Executive Director of The Health Initiative
Published: 2026-10-11 · Updated: 2026-10-11
Sources (2)
- When to use the emergency room for adults (MedlinePlus, NIH) (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-10-09)
- Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) (CMS) (opens in a new tab) (accessed 2026-09-30)