Medical and Dental Tourism in Los Cabos Mexico
By: David Mandich - June 22, 2005
Medical and Dental Tourists from the United States, Canada & Western Europe vacation free in Los Cabos Baja Sur Mexico annually by saving money on treatments which they find difficult to obtain or too expensive back home.
They come for reasons such as having been denied treatment by their insurers, unbearably long waiting periods for government health services, but mostly, the prohibitively high cost of dentistry, private doctors and hospitals.
Laser eye surgery, dermatology, cardiology, cosmetic surgery, breast augmentation, and cosmetic dentistry including crowns, dentures and implants are just some of the many specialty treatments available to the medical tourist in Los Cabos Mexico.
In Cabo one can party all night in one of many famous clubs such as Squid Roe or the Giggling Marlin where you can get hung upside down by your heels on a giant fish scale. Or just relax on a beach, in a perfect swimming pool with a perfect margarita… or a bottle of water if your doctor says nix on the booze for a while.
Cosmetic plastic surgery and treatments ranging from Botox shots to breast augmentations and liposuction can be up to 70% less in Cabo San Lucas than in Los Angeles California. Dr. Miguelangelo Gonzalez has had his personal offices on the grounds of Cabo San Lucas' venerable palm shaded waterfront Hotel Hacienda Beach Resort for many years. Patients often elect to stay at the hotel to recuperate and relax by the pool overlooking the bay and the "Land's End" rock formations that mark the tip of the thousand mile long Baja California peninsula. T
he low cost, personal service and ambience can't be touched by renowned hospitals such as Huntington Park Memorial in Pasadena California.
In Los Cabos one can have medical and dental treatments and then enjoy relaxing on sandy semi-tropical beaches and swim in warm, crystal clear waters full of colorful tropical fish. One can fish big game such as Marlin or Dorado, golf on one of many designer championship courses, snorkel and scuba dive a coral reef, ride horses, ATV's, rent boats, and jeeps to explore traditional Mexican villages and backcountry desert roads. And all virtually free with the saving you get on your medical care. Try to make that happen back in Kansas City or Seattle!
Dra. Rosa Elena Pena of San Jose del Cabo (near Cabo San Lucas) has been pioneering Dental Vacations to Baja Sur for almost twenty years.
"Sometimes entire families come and visit me each year for their cleanings, fillings, crowns and dentures" she notes. "Over 80% of my patients are Americans and Canadians with a sprinkling of Europeans".
Porcelain crowns run $800 to $2,200 usd each in American big cities but only $350. in San Jose del Cabo.
One woman recently rented a house for a month on the Sea of Cortez for her spouse and six kids to vacation in while she had twenty crowns made saving the family over $15,000 dollars!
More common is the young woman from Texas who just visited for six days. She had a crown made, an ultra-sonic cleaning and a whitening treatment, and paid for her entire vacation with her savings.
Mexican, Asian and other foreign medical students often study at and do post graduate work in American universities and hospitals. They use the same texts written in English as do their American counterparts. When back home, they order their medical equipment and supplies from the same manufacturers Western doctors do. High tech German, Japanese and American medical equipment finds its way into clinics all over the world.
When you visit a hospital in the USA, you may note that many of the doctors are foreign, many having been educated in the states and many often opt to return to their home countries. Some return home to live among family and friends, others are required by their governments to return home to repay their countries for the cost of their government funded educations as is the case with Mexico, India and some Asian countries.
Safety and sanitation are equal in better medical facilities and worse in rural ones whether in the USA or in Mexico.
Mexican medical professionals use latex gloves, digital sterilizing ovens for their instruments, face shields, masks, anti-bacterial soaps and scrubs etc. etc. A quality hospital should have bacteria scrubbing air ventilation systems in the operating rooms. Unfortunately this is not always the case in many small town American hospitals, or in older Mexican hospitals and rural clinics. Besides professional care, medical tourists to Mexico can expect
warm, friendly care by people happy to host foreign tourists visiting their country.
People often say that medical treatment is superior in the West, but, not anymore.
The long held myth that American medical care is somehow superior to everywhere else has been shattered. In reality, the only thing superior about American medical care is the high cost. You get high prices and less service. Long lines, long waits for appointments with doctors who see dozens of patients a day and are paid bonuses by the insurance companies and HMO's to deny treatments. Then they prescribe medications that cost a hundred dollars a week but cost only fifteen dollars a week for the same item across the border in Mexico.
Mexico has universal health care for all its citizens along with extremely low generic and name brand label drug costs.
A consultation and minor treatment by a doctor in a government hospital can cost you five to fifty dollars. Whether you are a Mexican or an American. But we won't discuss that obvious anti-American Medical Association, Mexican socialist plot in this article.
Mexican doctors undergo the same training as do their American or European counterparts, and often in medical schools that have been around for hundreds of years longer than the ones in the USA. Remember, the Spanish conquest of Mexico took place over a hundred years before the Pilgrims even landed at Plymouth Rock.
Mexican doctors study in medical school for four years, then intern at a government hospital for another. Specialty doctors do post graduate studies for another two years minimum. Sometimes more. Pretty much the same as in the states. Except for the government service. Universal health care. The very idea!
You can have gastro-intestinal or lap band surgery for dramatic weight loss in Mexico, save twenty thousand dollars and visit the Aztec pyramids. Or you can see a private ear specialist like I did recently for an infection, have an intro-scopic exam, cleaning, and consultation for $35 bucks. And go sailing on the Sea of Cortez.
Here's my favorite story: It's about two patients with the same problem.
One in Los Cabos, one in San Francisco, California. A guy goes into shock at his house in Los Cabos one evening. Doctor from nearby hospital comes to visit in 15 minutes, determines the problem is a kidney stone being passed, administers a shot and knocks him out and gives the wife a prescription and a bill for $40 bucks. When the patient awakens after sleeping the night away he's fine.
Patient number two living in San Francisco has the same symptoms, gets a $400 dollar two mile ambulance ride, emergency room poking and probing by a poorly paid intern on a 24 hour shift, then Two cat scans at $2,100 each and is given a shot, and sent home after resting several hours in a hospital bed. And a $5,800 bill!! The first patient in Los Cabos was myself. The second was a recently retired emergency medical technician from San Francisco who shared his story with me. It is said by consumer protection folks that 80% of hospital costs go to administration. If you don't quite get what this is all about yet, read the two stories above again.
Patients have learned they no longer have to pay for their doctors (or hospital Directors) African safari vacations, Mercedes autos, and country club memberships. They can by-pass their Doc and get treated in Cabo, play golf on a Jack Nicholas ocean waterfront course, visit galleries, eat international fusion cuisine in a waterfront five-star restaurant, catch Marlin or go swim with seals and still come out dollars ahead.
Source :
www.loscabosguide.com
Mexican hotel enters medical tourism with luxury package
Treatment abroad news : 08 December 2006
Spa resorts around the world are joining the medical tourism trend and providing packages for visitors to obtain medical checks while on vacation.
It can be difficult to fit in a visit to the doctor during a working week, so a growing number of holidaymakers are enjoying the option to purchase all-in-one wellness packages as part of their vacation.
The Casa Velas Hotel in Mexico has broken onto the scene with its new Wellness Spa/Medi Holiday programme, which includes a three-night stay and a full medical check-up by a certified physician, with a free interview with a cosmetic surgeon if desired.
Visitors benefit from a full range of blood and cardiac tests, including EKG, tread mill, urinalysis, PSA, CBC, blood chemistry, lipid profile and blood group, all of which is performed in under three hours.
The rest of the time can then be spent relaxing with daily spa treatments, enjoying the spa food menu created by a nutritionist and experienced chef, or playing a round of golf at one of three signature courses.
While staying at the hotel, guests can also enjoy their very own plunge pool or Jacuzzi and access to an exclusive beach club, as well as the hotel's gourmet restaurant, sushi and wine bar.
Source :
www.treatmentabroad.net
