You’ve been with Hospital San Antonio for seven years. What are the main changes and challenges the hospital has had to face in that time?

Hospital San Antonio was established in 2019, and since then we have had some big challenges, such as starting a hospital from scratch and the fact that during the first two years of operation the pandemic started and we had to deal with everything that went with that.

Also, although we already knew that a significant community of expats were residing in Chapala (Mexico), understanding their needs and addressing them has been a significant challenge, especially because the majority do not have private insurance policies. We realised that several had Medicare Advantage policies and we found that these types of policies only covered medical care abroad in case of emergency.

So, during the last seven years we have worked hard to manage these types of policies alongside private and traveller insurance which, in certain ways, are less complex to operate. There has also been the matter of educating patients that their domestic policies do not have coverage abroad, and we have had to advise them to approach their insurance agents so that they can find alternative insurance that provides them with the security they need. In fact, this is what brought us to ITIC, because in the search to find better partnerships, we found that this forum is very important.

New technology has revolutionised certain facets of hospital care and administration. What are the main aspects Hospital San Antonio has embraced?

At the San Antonio Hospital we have invested in diagnostic equipment that helps us provide high-quality and safe services to our patients: a 128-slice CT scan; 1.5 Tesla MRI; robust haemodynamic equipment for catheterisations; and operating rooms equipped with everything necessary for highly specialised surgeries such as open heart or neurosurgery and spine surgeries. All imaging services are also on a digital platform so that patients can access their images and their appointments from their cell phone if necessary.

How important are international patients to the hospital, and what do you offer them?

Chapala is a place that is characterised by the large number of foreigners who live in the region, either temporarily or permanently. International patients are numerous, so they are important. As I mentioned, this has led us to develop a robust strategy for the care of these patients, so much so that we have had to open a benefits and billing office in San Diego, California. We have also had to adapt and work with processes under HIPAA guidelines to guarantee reliability in the management of information – we have certified personnel for this.

Hospital San Antonio has dedicated itself to inviting recognised specialist doctors to care for our patients

The hospital offers many specialties. How do you find the best clinicians, and what services are most in demand at the moment?

Guadalajara is a city that stands out for the quality of medical services in the western and Pacific region of Mexico, therefore there is a wide variety of very well-trained specialist doctors in the main medical centres in Mexico. Hospital San Antonio has dedicated itself to inviting recognised specialist doctors to care for our patients. The most popular specialties are internal medicine, traumatology and orthopaedics, interventional cardiology and urology.