Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit have the best specialists and hospitals with a huge range of new technologies that not only represent a benefit for those who live full time but for also the so-called “Medical Tourism”.
But how is medical care in Bahia de Banderas?
People will find the physicians here much more open to longer consults, answering all questions, allowing family members to attend consults. Even if they run over the allotted amount of time and there is a waiting room filled with people, they still continue to answer questions, even if doing so backs them up.
There are world-class Medical and Dental schools here in Mexico. To receive their degrees, they go through programs similar to doctors in the USA and Canada.
Many do attend international conferences for the specialties, worldwide.
For the most part, hospitalizations and diagnostic studies, including surgeries in Bahía de Banderas, are at a lesser cost than in the United States. We use to say as much as 50% less but now, because we have state-of-the-art equipment for diagnostic studies and in hospitals, the prices have risen somewhat.
Many outpatient specialists charge between $500 pesos to $900 pesos a visit this translates to between 25 to 40 USD. You will find the physicians here much more open to longer consults, answering all questions, allowing family members to attend consults.
The majority of medications can be purchased over the counter, without a prescription. Prescriptions are needed for antibiotics and narcotics. For most medications, prices are substantially less than in the US.
Most of the medical schools in Mexico, public or private, offer English programs, learning from mandatory English books and articles as well as English lessons for the students. The “new generation” of doctors arrive at medical school already speaking English because so many elementary and high schools now have bilingual programs.
Most, who practice in a tourist destination such as Vallarta do know English and are bilingual.
It used to be that most people that came to Puerto Vallarta or Riviera Nayarit for medical services were coming for plastic surgery and bariatric surgery. That has really changed as now we have people who come for everything from a hip or knee replacement to hernia surgery.
There are two sectors of health in Mexico. The public sector includes the state hospitals, IMSS, ISSTE, and the private sector including eight private hospitals in the area.
There is no such thing as free medical care in Mexico. Even the poorest of the poor must pay something when seen in the public sector, albeit minimum.
It is strongly advised to have good insurance for medical and there are a wide variety of year-round and traveler’s insurances that are accepted by local private hospitals for direct pay.
A big plus in medical care in Bahía de Banderas is that there is no long wait for consults, surgeries, or diagnostic studies. Normally just a day or two, tops.
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