When Endobariatric first started many many years ago our very first patient came from the United States. Back then, medical tourism really wasn’t a term, but now a whole industry has sprung up to help patients understand the benefits of traveling outside of their respective countries to obtain medical care.

With over 10,000 patients we have made the process of getting gastric sleeve surgery at our hospital almost seamless. Although the majority of our patients do come from The United States, more and more are traveling from across the globe to have their VSG procedure done from our bariatric team. We’ve had patients from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Russia, Switzerland, Germany, Cayman Islands, Ecuador, Canada, Israel, Argentina and many others.

So what is medical tourism really?

In a nutshell, it simply means that a person or group of people travel to another country to obtain medical treatment. In our case patients wishing to obtain weight loss surgery come to our facility in Piedras Negras, Coahuila Mexico. We are about a mile across the border from Eagle Pass Texas.

Costs and waiting times are major factors in why people choose to travel outside their own countries to obtain surgery. In the United States the cost of bariatric surgery can range anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000 or more depending on the surgeon or hospital. And in some countries patients have to wait six months or more to schedule surgery. When you wish to save money and not have to wait…medical tourism is the way to go.

Is a passport required?

As with all travel to another country a passport is always required. Coming from the United States a passport is not required to get into Mexico, but if you wish to return to the US, then a passport will be a necessity.

Almost every day new patients ask us questions about medical tourism, passports and traveling to our location for their scheduled weight loss surgeries. So we actually put together a page of on our website that helps answer some of those of questions.

Such as…

• What information is required for a passport?
• How much time does it take to get a passport?
• What if I don’t have a passport?
• What is the cost to get a passport?
• What is the difference between a passport book and passport card?
• What are the advantages of medical tourism?
• Are there risks involved with medical tourism?
• What is the medical tourism process?
• How safe is it traveling to your region of Mexico?

So regardless of where you are coming from, know that you are in good hands with our staff and and surgical team at all times. We value and appreciate you and are always looking out for your safety. If you’d like to learn more about medical tourism, our process or what patients think of our services visit our website today. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. You can also connect directly with Dr. Alvarez on Snapchat by adding him to your friends list, his username is: gmoalvarez.