"Medellín thrives on medical tourism"

[WhiskeyGirl]

Once the nerve centre of Pablo Escobar's cocaine empire, a training ground for his assassins and the scene of pitched battles with leftwing guerrillas, Santo Domingo supplied more than its fair share of victims to Medellín's hospitals and morgues in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Today, the steep jumble of corrugated iron rooftops is held up around the world as a model of urban regeneration and Medellín's hospitals are taking advantage of the expertise cultivated in those dark years to develop a new business model: medical tourism.

"A liver transplant in the US is about $315,000 and here you can pay $63,000," she says. "So it's a huge difference, although price is not the only factor."

With the creation of a special unit in 2006 to co-ordinate international patient care, as well as accommodation, flights and other assistance, the hospital is now promoting general surgery, neuro interventions, obesity reduction surgeries and cancer treatments.

The 45m Americans without medical insurance are only a three to six hour flight away and the Colombian government has targeted the medical tourism sector as a growth priority.

Pablo Tobón Uribe has contracts with seven international insurance companies including Bupa International and Blue Cross Blue Shield of the US, and is one of 12 Colombian hospitals awaiting accreditation by the crucial US-based Joint Commission International.

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