# Cruz Roja



## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

We are here now so it is really a moot point - but I'll share this thought for folks contemplating a move to Mexico - in addition to your creature features; fellow expats, affordable rentals, mass transport, climate, whatever - make sure the location you decide to settle on has a first rate Cruz Roja installation.

They are open 24 X 7 and charge 100 pesos for a visit (plus supplies). I had surgery about 10 days ago now at IMSS and needed to visit Cruz Roja 5 times after that. Wait time on average 5 minutes. It is a true high tech emergency room. When I left IMSS they basically said - 'see ya'. Cruz Roja unclogged my stuffed catheter - inserted a new catheter etc. Those five minute visits at Crus Roja would likely have been 4-6 hour waits at the emergency room at IMSS. 

I believe 911 is now operational throughout Mexico. I believe Cruz Roja has more ambulances than anyone else. When you call 911 they will dispatch the next/closest ambulance to your location.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

There is also Cruz Verde in Guadalajara. Heard good things


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Gatos said:


> We are here now so it is really a moot point - but I'll share this thought for folks contemplating a move to Mexico - in addition to your creature features; fellow expats, affordable rentals, mass transport, climate, whatever - make sure the location you decide to settle on has a first rate Cruz Roja installation.
> 
> They are open 24 X 7 and charge 100 pesos for a visit (plus supplies). I had surgery about 10 days ago now at IMSS and needed to visit Cruz Roja 5 times after that. Wait time on average 5 minutes. It is a true high tech emergency room. When I left IMSS they basically said - 'see ya'. Cruz Roja unclogged my stuffed catheter - inserted a new catheter etc. Those five minute visits at Crus Roja would likely have been 4-6 hour waits at the emergency room at IMSS.
> 
> I believe 911 is now operational throughout Mexico. I believe Cruz Roja has more ambulances than anyone else. When you call 911 they will dispatch the next/closest ambulance to your location.


I took a friend to Cruz Roja once. He fell, hit his head and broke a finger. I can confirm your experience. We went straight into a bed in the emergency room without any wait. They x-rayed his head and hand, then put a cast on his hand and arm. Total cost was $490 mxn for x-rays and supplies. There was no fee for the doctor or emergency room. The only constraint was that someone had to be with him. I had to go to the farmacia (inside the hospital) to pay for the x-rays and supplies. If I hadn't been there he might have had to get off the bed and walk to the farmacia himself.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

TundraGreen said:


> I took a friend to Cruz Roja once. He fell, hit his head and broke a finger. I can confirm your experience. We went straight into a bed in the emergency room without any wait. They x-rayed his head and hand, then put a cast on his hand and arm. Total cost was $490 mxn for x-rays and supplies. There was no fee for the doctor or emergency room. The only constraint was that someone had to be with him. I had to go to the farmacia (inside the hospital) to pay for the x-rays and supplies. If I hadn't been there he might have had to get off the bed and walk to the farmacia himself.


Where we are there is a very nearby hospital - but it is a different entity (with a different name) and is maybe one of the more pricier options for medical care. 

I'll say this - I might have stopped short of simply handing someone from Cruz Roja my wallet with all my credentials/credit cards etc - But I would have felt perfectly fine handing them 3-4 thousand pesos and asked them to make whatever payment was due - and I'm sure I would have received every peso in change I was due.

Just a different caliber of person.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Gatos said:


> Where we are there is a very nearby hospital - but it is a different entity (with a different name) and is maybe one of the more pricier options for medical care.
> 
> I'll say this - I might have stopped short of simply handing someone from Cruz Roja my wallet with all my credentials/credit cards etc - But I would have felt perfectly fine handing them 3-4 thousand pesos and asked them to make whatever payment was due - and I'm sure I would have received every peso in change I was due.
> 
> Just a different caliber of person.


I am not sure I understand your comment about trusting. If it was a response to my comment about my having to go the farmacia in the hospital to pay for x-rays and splints, that wasn't a matter of trust. It was just that there is no system set up to do that. The hospital expects someone to accompany patients.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

After reading the comments on this thread, I will be sure to make a generous contribution to the Cruz Roja the next time they have a funding drive.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> After reading the comments on this thread, I will be sure to make a generous contribution to the Cruz Roja the next time they have a funding drive.


I am not sure about the connection of the Cruz Roja hospital in Guadalajara to the International Red Cross. I think the only thing they share is a name. As I understand it, the Cruz Roja hospital is run by the Municipality. Its full title seems to be "Cruz Roja Mexicana I.A.P Delegación Guadalajara". I haven't been able to find a reference for what the I.A.P. stands for.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> I am not sure about the connection of the Cruz Roja hospital in Guadalajara to the International Red Cross. I think the only thing they share is a name. As I understand it, the Cruz Roja hospital is run by the Municipality. Its full title seems to be "Cruz Roja Mexicana I.A.P Delegación Guadalajara". I haven't been able to find a reference for what the I.A.P. stands for.


There is a Cruz Roja hospital in Mexico City up the road from the INM office. I had assumed that when I was contributing to the Cruz Roja, that that's where the money went. Perhaps I was mistaken.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

Where we live there is a very modern Cruz Roja emergency room - perhaps a year old. Across the street is a very high end hospital which may be the most expensive facility in town. I _think_ in the 70's the hospital was part of Cruz Roja but they went their separate ways.

We did up our Mexican wills about two years ago and left everything we have in Mexico to the Shriner's hospital in Polanco. If there should be some reason for us to redo those wills some day - like we need a new executor or something - we will keep Cruz Roja in mind. 

As I understand it - since we now have Mexican wills our US wills are voided and whatever we have left there is disbursed based on the beneficiary information on file.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

You may have separate wills in each country. Neither should void the other if you are careful to avoid any overlap or conflict. The Mexico will should specify only assets in Mexico, for example, and the US will should specify only the assets in the USA. Keep it simple.


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