I've been stewing all week about a comment from Anonymous that I received on this blog entry, Hospital Angeles de Queretaro - Part 2. The entry was written about a year ago and is about a medical procedure that I had done at the Hospital Angeles. Anonymous said:
I've been living in the United States for two year... I've been living in the United States for two years and let me tell you that the american health care sucks! doctors all they care about is money, I think in Mexico health care is way better than in the States, but as always you see Mexicans as if we were living in the jungle.
Wow, when I read that comment I immediately went to look at the blog entry to re-read what I had written that gave Anon the impression that I thought Mexicans were living in the jungle. I'm still not sure why Anon interpreted what I wrote this way. I also worried that perhaps Anon was a regular reader and thought that all of my writing reflected that I had a bad impression of all things Mexican.
When I wrote the entry I was thinking that my audience or readership was mostly expats or people who think about being expats and one of the questions we always get asked from other people who sometimes think about living in Mexico is about medical care in Mexico. So most of the report was a comparison of having this same test in the USA and having it in Mexico. There are differences and I thought that it might help some expats to know what the differences are even if minor.
This medical procedure wasn't an emergency. I did not have to have the test in Mexico. I could have waited until we went back to the USA but we wanted to start to find doctors in Mexico and explore medical care here. It would give us a lot of peace of mind to know what to expect if we should run into an emergency situation. And I summarized with the following:
This report may sound negative but I didn't have a bad experience yesterday. It is just that things are different in Mexico. And of course, I'm comparing my experiences from Houston's gigantic world class Texas Medical Center where besides many hospitals and medical schools there are numerous clinics that specialize in single procedures like cataract surgery or colonoscopies. We have friends who have had major abdominal surgery or orthopedic surgeries in Hospital de Angeles and they have been very pleased with the care they received from their doctors and the hospital staff.
The bottom-line. The hospital was clean, people seemed to be well trained and efficient but just as in most things in Mexico, you are responsible for yourself.
At any rate, Anon, if you read this let me assure you that I respect Mexico and Mexicans and I'm thankful that I can live here. Mexico is different than the USA and I love looking at and trying to understand those differences. Oh, and by the way, since that was written I feel even more confident of using the medical care here in Mexico.
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5 comments:
All I can tell you as Mexican is that here in the States I had been in the hospital and yes, they charge a lot for the services but, the care is exelente. My grandfather had a stroke which he died from and, just to get ice we had to go get it, to get even tissue paper, well, everything and suppossedly he was at a great hospital in Irapuato. My experience in a mexican hospital, is bad. If you go to a private provider then, service is exellent. Especially if you know the doctor. Also, I can understand how people from other countries feel. They may not get the care they are use to and they will not. So, trying it and giving as you did confidence to the medical care, solves the problem.
A difficult topic very professionally handled. At times, I think some commenters forget to turn off their message voice when they comment on a blog. The advantage on a blog is that we have time to answer questions in a calming manner.
I've never understood why people hide their identities behind anonymity to make an unpleasant post. But that's just me.
I am a Mexican American, and I've been following your blog. It's interesting reading. Very educational if you're thinking about moving to Mexico. I like reading from American expats because I know I can get the 'American' perspective and that to me is valuable. Why? Because I straddle both cultures, and sometimes I'm not sure if I'm objective in my views.
Please keep up with your excellent work of sharing your experiences there. Someday we may travel to Mexico, and any hints we can pick up along the way are sure to be helpful.
I trust the doctors and hospitals here in Mexico much more than I do in the United States because here they treat you more like a person and less like a statistic. Several years ago I had major, major surgery in the hospital Aranda de la Parra in León and I credit the surgeon, Doctor Victor Galindo, with saving my life. My wife has had a mastectomy due to breast cancer at IMMS in León and received excellent treatment and I have had hernia surgery at Hospital Angeles in León. I truly believe that if I had relied on the U.S. medical system that I would have been dead long before now....and broke!
Oh Billie, you can't take this person with some kind of chip on his shoulder seriously. I would drop over dead if I ever read anything from you derogatory about Mexicans. I know how devasting these kind of comments can be though. An ex-friend of mine once said to me, referring to the residents of this island, "You have to treat the people here gently, like you would a child. After all, they are just one swing out of the jungle." Needless to say, I informed her that she was a bigot, stupid and should really consider going back to her homeland. You are nothing like that, not even close! I would actually put a block on his ISP and be done with his stupidity.
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