A 2005 U.S. Census Bureau report found that at least 38 percent of border community residents have no health insurance. Amid this binational landscape, where opposing healthcare systems operate side by side, the process of seeking treatment in Mexico is a common practice.

In addition to culling a greater share of Valley patients, the hospital is hoping to cash in on a multibillion-dollar medical tourism industry.

“Mexico has not been positioned as a destination for medical tourism,” said Mauricio Sampayo, director of market strategy for Centro Medico.. “Maybe because there is a perception of tequila and burros, but it’s an obvious choice because it’s so close.”

Centro Medico is a gleaming 25-bed acute care hospital and surgical facility that more closely resembles a U.S. medical campus than a typical hospital in Matamoros. The facility is the brainchild of brothers Mauricio and Patricio Sampayo.

Born and raised in Matamoros, the Sampayo brothers are U.S.-educated. Mauricio studied at the University of Texas at Austin and later spent 10 years at pharmaceutical giant Eli Lily and Company. Patricio graduated from Harvard.

Built with private investment, both pesos and dollars, the Sampayos had a vision that centered on raising the quality of healthcare services in Matamoros for its citizens.

“Before we started I had never stepped foot in a doctor’s office in Mexico,” Mauricio said. “The thought just never occurred to me. When I did it was literally embarrassing.”

Undersized doctor’s offices line the streets of downtown Matamoros, and hospitals are congested and ill-equipped to meet the healthcare needs of a city of over 700,000 residents. It was clear to the Sampayos that Matamoros was in need of a hospital, but they knew nothing of administering such a facility let alone building one.

Despite their lack of experience, the Sampayos went ahead with CMI, building the hospital on a lot owned by their family. They recruited the city’s best doctors, whose only limitations had been access to the latest technology.

The Sampayos spared no expense, spending millions on the same equipment found in U.S. hospitals, including Siemens SOMATOM Sensation CT Scan and Kodak radiology equipment.

In 2005, they brought 18 doctors on board. Today there are 60 doctors and construction is underway on additional offices, which could eventually double the current physician staff.

“There are only two urologists in the state of Tamaulipas, and we’ve got one of them,” Mauricio proudly said of the staff he and his brother assembled.

Even with their sights on elevating healthcare services in Matamoros, it soon became apparent that patients were trickling across the border as word spread about Centro Medico. The Sampayos estimate that perhaps 15 percent of their patient base is American.

With an advertising campaign, which includes newspaper and billboard ads, the brothers believe there is opportunity to double that figure within the next five years.

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More Americans seeking foreign healthcare >
--AARON NELSEN THE
BROWNSVILLE HERALD