SAN YSIDRO, Calif. — If you stare into the distance at the Mexico border crossing in San Diego, you can spot a tall medical plaza building. It's one of several in Tijuana.
Every day thousands of people cross into the Mexican city from San Diego. Many go over the border to get medical procedures that are sold at a fraction of the cost for the same treatment in the U.S.
But some may be re-thinking making the drive following the kidnapping of four Americans Friday in Matamoros, Mexico, which is just south of Brownsville, Texas.
“People are just kind of in shock. Maybe it’s because we were waiting for the axe to fall. It’s so rare,” said Josef Woodman, CEO of Patients Without Borders in an interview from North Carolina Tuesday.
Woodman is a publisher and consultant for the international medical tourism industry. He said after two of the kidnapped Americans were killed, his phone rang off the hook.
His company has resources for patients who are in search of credible information about medical procedures abroad.
He said he’s frequently asked if it’s safe to travel to Mexico to get care and his answer is yes — at least in part adding about 1.2 million Americans make the trip yearly.
“I think the biggest risks in medical tourism are the quality of care. The selection of your doctor. The selection of your clinic. Not all of them are great.”
Woodman tells patients not to go for the cheapest deal and warns to avoid clinics offering 80% off the cost of a procedure. He recommends patients look to see if a doctor in Mexico is U.S. board certified.
“Patients get in trouble and drift into high risk when they try to cross shop, get the very cheapest deal. They don’t do their homework on accreditation and certification.”
The U.S. State Department’s current risk assessment of Baja California says Americans should reconsider travel to the region due to crime and kidnappings. It says most homicides are targeted but U.S. residents have been kidnapped.
But University of San Diego researcher Laura Calderon, who studies organized crime in Mexico and lives in Tijuana, said San Diego residents shouldn’t panic.
“There is no indication from our research or the data that these crimes are targeting Americans crossing the border or just everyday citizens,” Calderon, the director of the Justice in Mexico program at the university, said.
Calderon said there is an ongoing turf war in Tijuana over drug territory.
“It’s kind of like everyone against everyone at this point and that’s kind of like the dynamic that we see in the city.”
She emphasized tourists and visitors are not being specifically targeted by the violence.
Woodman said it’s important people use street smarts when going to Mexico.
“If you’re rude to people, if you are carrying a Gucci handbag you know that might not be a great thing.”
