Video – Star Medica Hospital, Ciudad Juarez

The Medical Tourism Corporation team visited Star Medica Hospital in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. It is a 20 minute drive from the El Paso, TX airport to reach the hospital in Mexico. A twin city to El Paso Texas, Ciudad Juarez, or commonly known as Juarez is a bristling city of about 1.3 million inhabitants. Travel by taxi, bus, and car, or even by foot is common at this border. Juarez is also home to a number of multinational companies like Toshiba, JVC, Price Water House, Honeywell, and Delphi Automotive Systems. Due to the proximity of the two cities a number of people stay in one city and work in the other. Also, family ties across border are very common here.

The hospital is one of the most modern medical facilities, part of Grupo Star Medica (GSM) a private hospital organization that was established in 2002. In a short period, Grupo Star Medica has grown to a chain of eight ultra modern hospitals, and is projected to be a twenty hospital group by 2010. This has made them the fastest-growing hospital group in Mexico.

The hospital has a strict qualification & screening process for doctors to practice at its facility, including the requirement of being Board Certified. Due to its proximity to the US Border & high quality medical care at low prices, it attracts a number of US clients from across the border. As per the hospital management: Testimonial to the high standard of medical care in Star Medica is that it is the official hospital for the US embassy in Juarez.

During the visit of US President George W. Bush in March 2007 to Mexico, Star Medica Hospital in Merida was chosen as the official hospital in case needed for any medical emergency. The hospital also plans to pursue ISO-9000 International Standards Organization Quality certification and JCI accreditation. JCI is short for Joint Commission International and is the international wing of JACO, the US not-for-profit organization that accredits hospitals for their quality & operation standards.

The hospital is located in one of the most premium parts of the city. It is about 200 meters from the US consulate. Also around the hospital are a number of American Hotels such as Holiday Inn, Quality Inn, Microtel Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, La Quinta Inn & more. Across the hospital in the front is Las Misiones the finest mall in Juarez with big US departmental stores like Sears & and a Cinemaplex. Behind the hospital premises is the campus of Univ. of Phoenix Ciudad Juarez. Walking distance from the hospital are also a number of American eating places like Denny’s and McDonald’s.

This multi-million dollar hospital looks from inside like a luxury hotel with beautiful paintings, pleasing art, ergonomic design & lighting in the corridors, hallways & waiting rooms. The cleanliness is evident from the sparkling floors & walls. The hospital is designed not only to be patient friendly, but also to make any accompanying guest’s visit comfortable. Being an all inclusive hospital, it has at one location a blood bank, ICU, emergency center, X-Ray, MRI, CT-SCAN, fluoroscopy, medical laboratories, doctor offices & more.

All the open areas in the hospital have wireless Internet. There are four cafeterias & eating places inside the hospital premise to choose from. The spacious patient private suites are specially designed to accommodate any additional guest while keeping the patient’s convenience & safety in mind. Unless it’s a personal desire, there should not be a need for the patient or the accompanying guest to venture outside the hospital premises. For the international patients the hospital has a public relations department that addresses any special needs & takes feedback for improvements. All the signs are in English & Spanish.