Medical Tourism Was Booming In Mexican Border Towns. Then Came The Coronavirus.
From Tijuana to Nuevo Progreso, Mexican towns near the U.S. made a big bet that the high cost of health care in the United States would bring patients and money south of the border for surgeries, dental care and prescription medicines.
Yet amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, that bet has looked like less of a sure thing as travel ground to a halt, businesses shuttered and jobs disappeared.
In Los Algodones, a small town bordered by California to the north and Arizona to the east, dentistry dominates the local economy. The town has just 5,000 residents, but it’s home to hundreds of dental clinics, drugstores and other medical facilities meant not for locals but for foreigners.
During the busy winter season, thousands of Americans and Canadians flock to Los Algodones for dental work that’s 40% to 50% less expensive than in their home countries. That’s why the town has earned the sobriquet “Molar City.”
Visitors from the north support the town’s entire economy: hotels, restaurants, shops, liquor stores, street vendors and jaladores who get tips for directing patients to clinics. A downturn in the town’s leading sector means lost jobs and lost money for virtually every resident and commuter.
The border never officially closed to Americans seeking medical care in Mexico, and Canadians also are permitted to travel abroad for health care as long as they quarantine for 14 days after returning home.
But businesses in Los Algodones say confusion about travel restrictions and reentry has deterred more patients than fear of contracting COVID-19. And the hours the border crossing at Andrade, California, is open have been cut; the crossing was open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. prior to the pandemic, but now closes at 2 p.m.
“Everyone suffered the same way,” said Alejandro Gutiérrez, chief operating officer of Sani Dental Group, the biggest player in town. “People in Los Algodones, regardless of whether they work in dental clinics or not, we rely on medical...
