Interacting with Dr. Bill
Interacting with Dr. Bill
By Bill Milligan
A cardiovascular surgeon from India, Devi Shetty, whose family owns a medical service in Bangalore with the concept of low cost, has reached an agreement with the Cayman Islands to construct a medical complex aimed at the North American market. It will cost some two billion dollars and will include a hospital, university and a center for specialized services. The first phase of 200-300 beds, costing one hundred million dollars is anticipated to open in two years.
The Mexican medical market is not behind, and obtaining certification for hospitals and physicians in an effort to capitalize on the ever increasing Medical Tourism phenomena, is occurring not only in Mexico but Costa Rica and soon to be the Cayman Islands.
Now we will focus on a somewhat previously isolated area from the rest of Mexico, Merida, located in the state of Yucatan on the Yucatan peninsula. Many physicians after graduating from Medical School in Mexico go abroad, U.S. and Europe, to further their training. Merida’s vast network of hospitals, laboratories and both private and public clinics are dedicated to practicing medicine on a level equal to its counterparts all over the world. The cost effectiveness of medicine in this area is very competitive and with the element of security and highly trained doctors, this opens the doors for the Merida market.
With the booming henequen industry during the XIX and XX century, the “yucatecos” formed relationships with Havana, New Orleans and Paris, serving not only for commercial purposes but also educating their students in the field of medicine. After completion of their foreign studies they returned to practice medicine in their respective states and eventually formed the Faculty of Medicine of UADY (Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán), becoming one of the most prestigious in Mexico and serving patients from southeast Mexico, Belize, Veracruz, Tabasco, Chiapas, Centro America and recently Canada. We can say that with their specialization, growth and first class infrastructure, this area is poised for the oncoming Medical Tourism boom just around the corner.
The Yucatan Peninsula is in the southeast of Mexico, more than 1,500 km (900 miles) from Mexico’s capital, Mexico City. Its rich history and culture dates back to pre Hispanic Mayans, pirates, Spanish invaders and henequen factories, making it very unique from its northern sister states. Its cuisine, traditions, peoples, geography and climate along with many other variables allows this area of Mexico to be more secure, conservative and hospitable.
For those reasons Yndiana and I find ourselves every winter escaping the grey and cold of the northeast corridor to return to our second home for its warmth, sun, gentle trade winds and all of the above reasons. On our last trip to Merida, February, 2011, Yndie had her ophthalmologic exam done at the Institute of Eye Diseases and Ocular Surgery and routine blood work done at small lab located where we were staying. Her eye exam cost approximately 50.00 U.S. dollars as compared to 250.00 in Wilmington, North Carolina, and blood analysis was one fourth what we would have paid in the U.S.
Our conversations with Mrs. Silvia America Lopez Escofie and her associate Mrs. Ana Rosa Payan , the forward thinkers and owners of the “aparthotel” (apartment/hotel) have been very informative about the Merida medical market. Their “aparthotel” (APARTHOTEL SIETE 32) located in the new area called Altabrisa has the best of both worlds for patients coming from outside the Merida area, in that they are centrally located next to the Star Medica and new Regional hospital complex and provide apartment like hotel rooms with cooking facilities ensuring minimal expenditure for food while undergoing medical procedures or exams. This helps to tremendously lower the costs of traveling for medical care.
Some of the most noted medical centers in Merida are the Centro Medico de las Americas, the Clinica de Merida, Star Medica and the Centro de Especialidades Medicas del Sureste. The city has clinics with agreements with other health centers worldwide, offering health services and research projects in various medical fields. Many patients come for preventative treatments, dental work, plastic surgery, rehabilitation, eye surgery and other procedures.
With the combination of cost effectiveness, security and high quality medical and surgical care, Merida is readying itself for the new wave of Medical Tourism, most likely coming from the U.S., especially if Medicare laws are loosened whereby patients will be covered if utilizing services outside the United States. Ironically this might save the moribund Medicare system by cutting medical costs dramatically and hopefully minimizing the strangling effects of lawsuits and practicing “legal” medicine. This is potentially a win-win situation for both, assuming the house and the senate in the U.S. can put aside their differences, release themselves from corporate and legal obligations and for once do something for their people.
Bill Milligan M.D.
Diplomate of American Board of Family Medicine
Certified in Eden Energy Medicine
