It is important that whomever is planning to have surgery in Mexico, verifies the medical facilities are certified for bariatrics, as well as the surgeon, who should also be board-certified in bariatrics. It is not the same thing being a certified general surgery doctor, than a board-certified surgeon in bariatrics.

When a surgeon is board-certified in bariatrics, the facilities from which such surgeon practices, it is also certified.

To verify the facilities and the surgeons, there is an official link by the Mexican Council for Obesity Surgery and Metabolic Diseases, to which anyone can go to verify such credentials (copy and paste to your browser)

http://www.cmcoem.org.mx/cirujanos-con-certificacion-vigente-del-cmcoem-2/

The list of board-certified surgeons and facilities is often updated. IF YOUR SURGEON/MEDICAL FACILITY IS NOT ON THAT LIST, then you are not going to a board-certified surgeon, but to someone who is only claiming to be board-certified. Same applies for the medical facilities. Bottom line is: beware of pseudo-surgeons wanting to make fast and easy money out of unsuspected people.

There is another list featuring the surgeons who are IN THE PROCESS of being BOARD-CERTIFIED IN BARIATRICS. Being on this other list DOES NOT mean the surgeon applying will be approved and certified in bariatrics. It only means the surgeon started the process, which may take months or even years to pass. If a surgeon's name is not moved from this list to the LIST OF BOARD-CERTIFIED SURGEONS, means one or several things, among which the most important are: (1) the surgeon has not approve all the tests; (2) the medical facilities have not complied with all the regulations and standards for safety, sanitation and patient care (this part is strictly supervised by the Mexican Federal Government's General Health Ministry).

http://www.cmcoem.org.mx/medicos-en-proceso-de-certificacion-cmcoem/

The committee which supervises the Certification and Accreditation Programs headed by four of the top bariatric (weight loss) surgeons in the country (Mexico):

• Dr. Noé Nuñez. / Coordinator
• Dr. Juan Antonio López Corvala.
• Dr. Fernando Cerón Rodriguez.
• Dr. Pablo Zorrilla.

Hospital Angeles Tijuana... Professionally & Technologically Ready to Meet your Needs.

Hospital Angeles Tijuana is a 100% Mexican corporation, which since 1986 encourages and supports the field of private medicine in Mexico, and has pushed decisively for a reform in the health system, being pioneers and the indisputable leaders in this field.

For the past several months, a rumor has been spreading in internet forums, Facebook groups and fan pages, Twitter, basically all over social media, that Hospital Angeles is out of business, broke, filing for bankruptcy, practically closing its doors. Nothing is further from the truth.

The tough policy of Hospital Angeles against non-FDA approved surgical supplies, such as FDA-approved titanium staples (Covidien), FDA-approved laparoscopic band implant (ApolloEndo's Lap-Band (former Allergan, Johnson & Johnson)), sutures, etc., has been a big factor for many doctors to resign to offer their services to national and foreign patients, in Hospital Angeles. 

Since August-September 2014, Hospital Angeles has been under new management/administration. Before this new management took over, many doctors offering their service there where not following the international standards by which Hospital Angeles has been certified both nationally and internationally, meaning these doctors were not observing sometimes not even the minimal requirements for patients' safety and care.

During a 3-5 month investigation, Hospital Angeles' new management found out that such surgeons were even using recalled or black market supplies to lower their costs, which is unethical and something Hospital Angeles will never tolerate nor endorse. After the investigation was over, Hospital Angeles invited these surgeons to comply with Hospital Angeles standards and policies, in an effort to safeguard the patients health and well being. Such doctors did not agree. Some left voluntarily, while some other had to be legally required to leave the premises and stop using Hospital Angeles name and brand to attract unsuspected patients.

If you have been contacted or have contacted medical tourism companies, referral service companies, patient facilitator companies, scheduling services, you might have possibly been told the doctor(s) these companies advertise (they are only advertisement agencies playing the part in exchange for a commission for just referring patients) are switching hospitals at a short notice, because Hospital Angeles will soon be closing its doors. DO NOT LET THEM FOOL YOU. Its their way to keep you in their booking schedule for a big chunk of the money you are paying.

Feel free to contact Dr Lopez-Corvala's office in case you have any questions about this article. We are here 100% for our patients. Make sure you get everything you deserve for your money. You do not need a middle person to get the best you can get.

Hospital Certification in Mexico - Who's in Charge and What is the Purpose.

In Mexico, the certification for hospitals is conducted by the General Health Council (Consejo de Salubridad General), based on international standards approved by the Joint Commission International (JCI, http://www.jointcommissioninternational.org/), which is the world authority on the subject.

The certification of hospitals is not a law, however, promotes benefits to the population.

The Joint Commission International began in 1994 and certifies international processes in hospitals in more than 80 countries, with the aim of improving the safety of patient care.

One of the main objectives of certification is to protect patients from natural risks in hospitals and encourage local medical care to improve the quality of service and to be more competitive, enabling them to attract more customers worldwide and increase profits.

Before the certification program there was a tendency of Mexican hospitals to seek international certifications in the hope of attracting more foreign patients and to improve their income. However, there was no awareness of the natural risks in hospitals and, consequently, patient safety was not being sought, which fortunately changed during the first ten years of the certification program that holds the General Health Council of the Ministry of Health.

In 2008, the full General Health Council approved the proposal to seek approval by the Joint Commission International of the United States, which was achieved at the end of that year with the support of the National Association of Private Hospitals.

That means today's standards used by the General Health Council to assess any hospital in Mexico are already international standards, and secondly the new, modern standards with the safety of patients in mind, has also been incorporated.

Only a handful of hospitals in Mexico, have been able to accomplish the certification process. As a patient, you can verify you have chosen a GHC's, JCI's standards, certified hospital by visiting the following link. Scroll down the list and find your hospital's name. Even though the list is in Spanish, it should not be difficult to spot your hospital.

http://www.csg.gob.mx/descargas/pdfs/certificacion/establecimientos/Hospitales/2015/CertificadoHOSPITALES-Vigente-Enero-2015.pdf