Retiring in Yelapa--Health Care

The availability of medical care/attention is something most people feel should be a right. So you’re thinking, why would anyone in their proper mind move to a remote Mexican village, forty-five minutes away from the availability of medical care/attention. I thought you’d never ask.

Yelapa is the proud home of a spacious medical clinic managed by Seguro Popular, a Mexican health insurance company. Think of it as an urgent care facility. The clinic offers a professional staff of two medical doctors and a certified nurse. All minor medical issues can be addressed on the spot. Major medical issues are referred to Puerto Vallarta. Although there is pre-natal care offered plus a birthing room, deliveries are not currently performed. Locals and visitors are welcomed. I have yet to hear of a visitor being turned away or asked to pay for any service provided. Should major emergency care be needed after 6p.m., it would require your being transported to Puerto Vallarta on a designated emergency panga. Having sought medical attention at the clinic on two occasions, I know the staff to be professional, courteous and abundantly helpful. I leave a donation with the receptionist.

Despite being a city of a quarter million people, Puerto Vallarta offers the medical opportunities typically seen in cities many times its size. As a result of substantially lesser patient fees, PV has become a major destination for medical tourism. This label stretches well beyond elective surgeries. It includes dental work plus all types of medical consultations with practitioners from virtually every specialty field imaginable. It is not uncommon for doctors in the Western United States to maintain offices in Puerto Vallarta.

The primary focus is serving the medical needs of the North American traveler. The reception areas/consultation areas and the caliber of professional service provided is nothing shy of what you would expect at a five star hotel. Once again, my wife and I have enjoyed appointments in three of the four major facilities. Average cost for a consultation with the practitioner = 500 pesos ($40 USD).

The hospital names and websites appear below. I urge you to spend time with each. If you have ongoing medical issues or are certain of an upcoming medical event, each hospital invites your inquiry as to the extent of service provided and the associated costs. They are in alphabetical order:

     
         Hospital Amerimed (www.amerimed.com.mx)

               Hospital CMQ         (www.hospitalcmq.com )

         Hospital Medasist    (www.hospitalmedasist.com)

         Hospital San Xavier (www.sanjavier.com.mx)

Dental health is a key component of well being. Puerto Vallarta is likewise home to a number of dental practices which cater to the North American traveler. Both of us feel that the level of service provided by the professional staff at Just Smiles meets or surpasses anything which we experienced across the border. Typical cleaning by the dentist runs 350 pesos ($28 USD).

One last resource you might consider whether relocating or just vacationing. Pamela Thompson, a former nurse of many years in California’s Central Valley, runs an operation akin to what we would call a health services discount card. For a modest premium she will provide a raft of services on your behalf (file keeping, appointments, lab work follow-up, insurance form translation and submission, plus she holds an annual health fair attended by a huge portion of the Banderas Bay ex-pat community—at no cost to the attendee). Many of Puerto Vallarta’s medical practitioners actually have a presence in the exhibit hall. In addition, the doctors within her “network” offer lesser fees to Pamela’s members. She receives no compensation from them. All of her income is derived from the sale of memberships.  We are both members and have used her referral system extensively. It is invaluable to enjoy that level of contact. Her primary website appears below:

Health Care Resources     (http://healthcareresourcespv.com/home.html)

A word about your existing insurance. Check to see if it covers you while traveling internationally. Is there a limit on the number of days you can be away from your home country? Ask about the procedure for filing a claim should you require medical services abroad. As I mentioned in a former post, Medicare will not reimburse you for medical expenses incurred outside of the USA. The Veteran’s Administration does have a product for international travelers but you cannot be out of the USA for more than thirty consecutive days. Find out before you travel. Pamela Thompson can answer your questions about Mexican medical insurance.

On occasion copied web links will not work properly when embedded into a word document. Should that turn out to be the case, I offer my apologies. Simply do a search under the name of the entity and identify Puerto Vallarta. You’ll get there. Lastly, if I have identified that a medical entity “caters” to the North American traveler that simply means that virtually everyone involved is fluent in English. Now, you can take a breath.