The grounds set out in the original project for the Panama Hospital Complex occupied part of the unspoiled section of the cobblestone path known as the “Camino de Cruces”, a road that was an integral part of the transisthmus road network during the colonial period and the first half of the 19th century.

The facilities and roads constructed in the country during the 20th century have altered the “Camino de Cruces” along almost 1,200 metres of its length, which amounts to approximately 68.5% of its total length. The alterations to the route of the road and its geo-political significance were the reasons for implementing control and protection mechanisms, concerned with the road itself and with external factors that have a bearing on it.

Therefore, it was essential to propose a modification to the original project before work could commence, in order to avoid affecting the route of the historic “Camino de Cruces”.

In order to avoid modifying or altering the surviving section of the “Camino de Cruces”. FCC Centroamérica proposed a modification of the original plans, consisting in re-routing part of the internal road of the works site so that the Camino would lie outside the area of the project.

The measures recommended by the Department of Historical Heritage were adopted, ceding a space of approximately 7 metres on either side of the cobblestone road.

Having protected and restored the cobblestone road “Camino de Cruces” which had previously been within the limits of the project, an easement was established along the route and this was monitored on a weekly basis.

The modification of the project as originally designed succeeded in preventing any alteration to one of Panama's outstanding Cultural Heritage Sites.