When you decide to get healthy with the help of a vertical sleeve gastrectomy, you don’t want to wait. And luckily for our patients, COVID-19 isn’t preventing people from beginning their journey toward a lifetime of health. Not only are we still offering bariatric surgery in our Mexico hospital, but we’re doing so with safety—as always—as our number one priority.

This new era brings with it understandable anxiety, especially when it comes to medical procedures. You (or loved ones) may also be worried about whether medical facilities in Mexico are taking COVID seriously. Rest assured that the same industry-leading technology and safety standards that have made the endohospital an international leader in VSG are now at work to keep COVID at bay. In addition, we’ve added multiple layers of protection specifically geared toward everyone associated with the endohospital. The outline below is an introduction to that protocol.

Step One
Before you even set out for our hospital, we ask patients to evaluate their own health and the health of those in their household. We provide a full list of potential COVID symptoms (like fever, cough, and shortness of breath) so patients know how to assess themselves and anyone they may have been exposed to. We also direct you and your travel companion to wear a face covering during the entirety of your trip to the endohospital to help prevent any new contact with the virus.

Step Two
From your first encounter with your driver at the pick-up location, our commitment to safety becomes very clear. Your driver will be masked, and he or she will take the temperatures of you and your travel companion before you’re allowed to enter the vehicle. If you don’t have a mask for any reason, you will immediately be provided with one. And while you can’t see the multi-step cleansing process for the vehicle, rest assured that you will be riding in a van that has been scrupulously sanitized.

Step Three
When you arrive at the endohospital, you’ll go through a sanitation tunnel to further ensure your safety. Another round of temperature checks happen here, as well as handwashing requirements for everyone entering the building. Perhaps most critically, we are running COVID tests for every patient arriving for gastric sleeve in Mexico. It’s free of charge for our patients, of course, though we do charge a fee of $100 for travel companions to help offset the steep price of testing. If a visitor exhibits signs of COVID, he or she will be asked to leave the endohospital to protect both patients and staff.

Step Four
Throughout the duration of your stay, everyone will be wearing masks. That includes your travel companion, so be sure that, if you choose to have someone accompany you, he or she is physically able to wear a mask for long periods of time. Hand sanitizer is available and encouraged all over the hospital, and care providers will wash their hands before and after attending you in your room. And as much as we love our patients, we won’t be giving out—or accepting—handshakes, hugs or kisses. Lastly, please bring your own entertainment, as our usual array of magazines, etc., won’t be available during the pandemic.

All of these steps, as well as many other safety protocols, are designed to ensure the complete safety of our patients, their travel companions, and our staff. Next week we’ll answer additional questions about safe VSG procedures in the time of COVID-19.

I invite you to follow us on all our social networks, we are on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest, we also have our YouTube channel where where I (Dr. Alvarez) answer frequently asked questions that are sent to me, subscribe to it! we talk about very interesting subjects.

If you want a more personalized experience and you have Instagram, follow me (Dr. Alvarez) to see my day both in my daily routine and in the operating room, add me! We will have a great time! My username is: gmoalvarez.

“Changing lives…one sleeve at a time”.