Communicating With Hospital Doctors in Rosarito Beach
The first Doctors in Rosarito were doctors who treated patients who were affected by a hurricane that hit the city in February 2021. The hurricane was one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes to hit Mexico’s coast in over 100 years. The hurricane’s destruction left over one million buildings damaged or destroyed and many people dead or missing. As a result of this event, the numbers of medical professionals who volunteered to go into the area to help were in great demand.
Doctors in Rosarito were required to take many tests before they could begin their work and get to work. There was a shortage of health care available in the Mexico border town after the hurricane so many health professionals were willing to travel across the border to the United States to fill in the gaps. Many people became so ill that they had to be hospitalized in hospitals in other states. The emergency room at the Rosarito hospital was extremely crowded during this time and so a group of American doctors left to fill in the needs of the local emergency room.
Because the number of foreign doctors who decided to make a trip to Mexico to help out in the hurricane was very high, the Mexican Doctors Association decided that they needed to do something about the shortages of medical staff in the border town. The association created the following bilingual brochure to inform both American and Mexican doctors in the town about the crisis. The brochure included basic information about the hurricane, including the deaths and damaged buildings. It also provided places to go and emergency numbers for people to call. In the border town, many of these foreign doctors went to serve in the hurricane’s aftermath.
The brochure went on to warn that foreigners would need a visa if they planned to travel to Mexico to help out. In the case of a trip that involved traveling into Mexico to treat patients, it advised tourists to leave immediately and take along their hospitalized relative or a close friend who would accompany them. The next day the doctors met with the director of the Rosarito International Airport to distribute the bilingual brochure and make sure that everyone had a copy. The director promised to send out a passport-like card that could be printed and given to any foreign patient who was interested in going to Mexico to care for a patient. Almost immediately the border town began receiving more patients.
Today, many foreign patients still travel to rosarito beach. Most come to see specialists or family members who live in the area. It is not uncommon for a patient to stay at a hotel near the rosarito beach until their case is resolved. Even when there is no emergency room in the immediate area, some patients choose to stay in the hotel because they know they can be easily contacted if ever there was an emergency.
Because the situation hasn’t changed, I encourage any foreign patient looking to visit Mexico to keep this issue in mind. The healthcare in Mexico is very good but the quality of the physicians performing their duties is not. The government should do whatever it takes to promote medical tourism in the country. Patients can verify residency by visiting the Mexican Ministry of Public Health website. If you are planning to visit Mexico, please be vigilant and check to see if your doctor is a licensed medical doctor.