ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS MEXICO – HEALTH TOURISM
A Press Tribune report to be published within The Los Angeles Times Transcription of the interview with DR. EDUARDO LOYA CORTES
DIRECTOR GENERAL Hospital Galenia Feb, 2009
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PRESS TRIBUNE: We’ve seen that Cancun has undergone a total transformation, attracting foreign investment and boosting both recreational and health tourism. What can you tell us about this? Dr. Eduardo Loya Cortes: Effectively, in the last few years Cancun and the Riviera Maya have undergone an impressive transformation. Increasing numbers of investors come to south-east Mexico because they see the great potential of our beaches, the marvelous climate, and above all, the privileged geographical location. With the arrival of these investments, an infinite number of resorts and luxury residencies have been developed, and this has attracted a great quantity of Baby Boomers, who now are not 24 year olds, but people who require specialized high quality health services. Having this type of attention so close at hand can be a motivating reason for buying a retirement home in one place or another. In the Galenia Hospital we have all the technology you’d find in a first world hospital, the added value of our hospital is in the magnificent surroundings we have, the beaches, the climate, and above all the proximity to the United States. Cancun has the best hotels with international prestige that attract a great diversity of tourists from all socio-economic levels. The Cancun airport is the airport in Latin America with the greatest number of international flights: we have become a fundamental point for European, North American, as well as Latin American tourism. We are a rough diamond with great potential to meet the needs of health tourism, both national and international patients. PRESS TRIBUNE: Globalization has made information travel at an impressive speed, and so many of our readers worry about alarming news regarding security in Mexico. Is Cancun a safe city, so that tourists can come here without having to worry? Dr. Eduardo Loya Cortes: The statistics describe us as a very safe city which can be noted in the general climate of peace and tranquility in Cancun. All our visitors can rest assured that they will be welcomed with open arms and will enjoy a safe stay. If they come to undergo a surgical procedure they will have a very calm period of recuperation surrounded by the exuberant nature of the city, and enjoy the warm climate that will make them forget their suffering. PRESS TRIBUNE: Galenia Hospital has been operating for three years. How did this new concept come about? Dr. Eduardo Loya Cortes: The principal economic activity of Cancun is tourism, and the people that visit us are accustomed to stay in luxury resorts which enjoy
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the very best services. For this reason, we wanted to build a hospital which would make people feel the same way, something totally different to what the patients are accustomed to. We have open spaces, a lot of light, the rooms are well ventilated, the colors and the decoration and all our installations in general are well thought out to achieve a faster and more bearable recuperation period. PRESS TRIBUNE: The architecture of the hospital makes us forget that we are inside a medical center, which is very important, but our readers are equally interested in being attended by the best specialists who use the most advanced technology. Dr. Eduardo Loya Cortes: I’m glad that you mention this. In Galenia Hospital we have cutting-edge technology, which helps us offer care of the very highest order and has become something of a spearhead in terms of medical attention in south-east Mexico. The hospital has 40 medical consultancies, 37 rooms, of which three are for intensive therapy and one for water births; we have three surgeries, a molecular biology laboratory… We have a comprehensive treatment center for obesity which is one of a kind. We offer minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery, prostate cancer ultrasound treatments (HIFU,) we are one of the few hospitals in the world that has this kind of minimally invasive technology. We also have bariatric surgery, Lap Band, and Neurosurgical Endoscopy. We have equipment to undertake studies of the highest quality such as: Doppler Duplex ultrasonography, linear tomography, bone density, magnetic resonance, helicoidally computerized tomography; we have a magnificent lineal particle accelerator. Now we’re on the subject, in February the doctor who invented the first linear accelerator which serves for radiotherapy and radio surgery will be with us at the hospital. His visit is very important, as he will help us with expansion plans. On the terrain adjacent we are thinking of building a second building with capacity for 35 rooms and 4 surgeries; in this same building we will have a very well equipped oncology center which will help us satisfy the needs of all our patients.
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PRESS TRIBUNE: The level and the quality of the technology that you use here is impressive, but it’s also important to count on a qualified and certified medical body. Do you have this here? Dr. Eduardo Loya Cortes: Half of the doctors that work here are bosses of their own consultancies, and the other half rent them. However, in selling as well as renting we assure ourselves that they pass through a selection process, the same undertaken by all hospitals that want to maintain a high level. In the same way we assure ourselves that they are doctors who are up to date, according to the Mexican Council for the Medical Education Accreditation. We consider it highly important that they work and know the current techniques, above all in this sector where advances can be made from day to day. Every year we make them sit exams to ensure that they are up to date, and we promote their attendance to seminars and courses to keep our medical staff in the best conditions. PRESS TRIBUNE: From what we’ve seen the quality of service offered is very similar to that offered in the United States and Europe. Dr. Eduardo Loya Cortes: Yes. In fact, after choosing their specialization, the vast majority of our doctors have gone on to undertake courses abroad, principally in North America. The doctor Rafael Maciel, neurosurgeon, was in Pittsburgh and in Switzerland doing neuroendoscopy. Doctor Treviño is in charge of dealing with patients with morbid obesity; he did five years of training in laparoscopic surgery in San Antonio, Texas; we have another two surgeons with this same specialty. Our clinic for the comprehensive treatment of obesity, opened last September is the only one of its kind; Doctor Treviño together with partners from San Antonio, invented a system of treatment for this problem which afflicts a large part of the population. The system is called Full Sense, and the first surgeries were done with great success in this hospital. PRESS TRIBUNE: What percentage of foreign patients do you currently have? Dr. Eduardo Loya Cortes: Between 20% and 25% are tourists, but each day the number of people coming specifically to be treated here increases.
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PRESS TRIBUNE: The fact that you have a medical team with international experience allows you to offer a service very similar to that which they would receive in their country of origin. What can you tell us about this? Dr. Eduardo Loya Cortes: We can guarantee them that they will be receiving an equal if not better quality of service then in the United States; here we have the most advanced technology, a capable and qualified medical staff, and all the infrastructure necessary to offer comprehensive care. American patients that come to Galenia for treatment are very satisfied with the results. It is precisely this satisfaction of our patients which acts as our best recommendation. If our pre-surgical and surgical services are very similar to those offered at the best international hospitals, it’s our post-surgical care which has really won us the preference of international patients. In Mexico, the doctors give warm attention; they visit the patient 3 or 4 times a day, something unheard of for many people. It is this point that allows us to say that our services are better than those offered in other countries: our constant preoccupation for the well-being of the people is a decisive factor when it comes down to choosing a hospital. PRESS TRIBUNE: What service is it that most interests the North Americans that come here? Dr. Eduardo Loya Cortes: They are very interested in the treatments for morbid obesity as much for economic reasons as for the quality of our center: here we attend to the patient in a comprehensive way, offering him treatment from nutritionists, psychologists and doctors. The patient is visited by various professionals of different backgrounds to ensure the highest rates of success. They are also often interested in plastic and reconstructive surgery; in Galenia Hospital we have four recognized surgeons. PRESS TRIBUNE: One of the advantages that Mexico has is the excellent cost benefit that its hospitals offer. How important is this in relation to the prices of the United States? Dr. Eduardo Loya Cortes: In reconstructive plastic surgery, for example, we’re 50% under the prices found in the United States, where a breast implant would cost between $80,000 and $100,000. Here the same surgery would cost $50,000. This cost can vary depending on the region where the surgery is performed, as there are places like the capital where the costs are a little higher. Now, due to the price of the dollar, the cost for Americans is reduced approximately 40%. We have the same prices for national and international patients.
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PRESS TRIBUNE: Before, you commented that 20% of the patients are foreigners, high figures when compared to other hospitals in Mexico. What are these high figures owed to? Dr. Eduardo Loya Cortes: Principally tourism. Cancun receives some three million tourists every year, many of them require some kind of treatment during their stay and they come to our installations. There are also people who come exclusively to receive treatment; we achieve this thanks to the deals we’ve made with hotels and insurers. PRESS TRIBUNE: These people treated by you tend to be baby boomers? Dr. Eduardo Loya Cortes: A percentage, yes. Even though there are more of these people coming to Cancun, other places like Puerto Morelos are developing small retirement colonies which require medical attention. It’s for this reason that our expansion plans don’t merely consider the growth of this hospital, but rather the creation of an entire health system, with the opening of a second level hospital in Playa del Carmen, and clinics in Tulum and Cozumel, precisely to make health services available to all those communities that are developing across the state. PRESS TRIBUNE: Do you have agreements or affiliations with hospitals in the United States? If not, would you like to in the future? Dr. Eduardo Loya Cortes: We are in negotiation with a hospital in Miami and another in San Antonio but for the moment we haven’t been able to establish any kind of agreement. PRESS TRIBUNE: Could you tell us a bit about your professional career? Dr. Eduardo Loya Cortes: I studied medical surgery in the UNAM, did my specialty in gynecology and obstetrics in the Adolfo López Mateos General Hospital of the ISSSTE. I began to work in the Hospital Humana that was later turned into the Ángeles del Pedregal Hospital. It was there that I realized that in the big cities, one is forced to compete with other doctors. For this reason I looked for a developing place where I would be able to exercise my work, and twenty three years ago there were only three possible options: Cancun, Huatulco and Tijuana. I’m from Veracruz, and so naturally came to Cancun to investigate how things were: I decided to stay here. The Galenia Hospital is a great family project; we’re three partners, my father, my brother and me. It was difficult to set it up, we had to open many doors, speak to
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many people, until three years ago we were finally able to open the hospital. Of the three partners I’m the only doctor, and for that reason I’m Director General. The name Galenia comes from Galen, who was the first doctor in history, and because in Spanish one can refer to doctors as “galenos,” we thought that Galenia would be a natural place of galenos or doctors. A year later we found out that Galenia also means small, intelligent child. PRESS TRIBUNE: Would you like to send a last message to the readers in California? Dr. Eduardo Loya Cortes: It is often held that Mexican medicine is not of the same high quality as that of the United States, and that is a great mistake; the knowledge and experience of our doctors place them at the level of the best hospitals in the world. The technology here is the same found in any international hospital, the International Monetary Fund has help programs to be able to introduce these technologies to developing countries. Globalization has made us able to prepare ourselves in the same way that doctors prepare themselves in Houston and in Switzerland. In addition to this, we have the advantage of our privileged geographical position. We are very close to the United States, we share many values with its people, we have the same way of thinking, but we maintain the Latin spirit of warmth and kindness in care that are without doubt decisive factors in the recuperation of the patients.
END OF INTERVIEW
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