Medical travel doctors among the most influential in the Dominican Republic
Three doctors who advocate for medical tourism and touristic medicine were chosen among the most influential in the Dominican Republic.
Dr. José Natalio Redondo, Dr. Héctor Sánchez Navarro, and Dr. Alejandro Cambiaso, appear in a survey made by the Digital Health Media alliance, which comprises seven digital health newspapers, after consulting the readers of those media specialized in health information in the Dominican Republic.
The consultation accounted that those selected are committed to promoting the transformation of the Dominican health system and its expansion to international markets.
The alliance is composed of Resumen de Salud, Diario de Salud, Actualidad Médica, Síntesis de Salud, MediNews, Redacción de Salud, and Portada de Salud.
In the context of the global health crisis due to COVID-19, it is appropriate to highlight the 10 most influential doctors in the Dominican Republic, who from their different roles in the public and private sectors draw the guidelines for modernization, innovation, and internationalization of the Dominican medicine.
Here is the list of the 10 most influential doctors in the Dominican Republic.
Dr. José Natalio Redondo
Internist and cardiologist by profession, Dr. Redondo is the main player in tourism medicine in the country through the Rescue Group, the largest national network of private medical services in the country and the Caribbean region, which assists around 17 thousand tourists a year and it is present in the main tourist centers of the country, such as Punta Cana, Puerto Plata, and La Romana.
He is a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Hotels and Tourism (ASONAHORES), member of the Advisory Board of the Dominican Association of Health Tourism, the former president – founder of the Puerto Plata Destination Tourism Cluster, and member of the Dominican Council of Tourist Competitiveness.
He was president of the Association of Hotels, Restaurants, and Tourist Companies of the North and has been linked to the financial sector as a member of the Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank and of the North Association of Savings and Loans. He has been the great promoter of studies and protocols with the use of ivermectin against COVID-19 in the country.
Grupo Rescue is currently building the Punta Cana Health City, a project aimed at international patients that consists of a 5-story building to house the Imaging and Laboratory areas, and 42 medical specialty offices.
Also, a Surgical Hospital, an International Teaching Center for Robotic Surgery, in which reconstructive surgeries, orthopedic prostheses, spine and knee, and hip replacement will be performed, as well as 10 operating rooms and 40 rooms.
Moreover, Punta Cana Health City has a family hotel with ease of post-operative care and early rehabilitation, with a spa and wellness center, restaurant with special menus, and general services, with direct connectivity to the Punta Cana International Airport.
Dr. Héctor Sánchez Navarro
Dr. Sánchez Navarro is a specialist in bariatric and metabolic surgery and robotic digestive surgery, founder of Meta Integra, an internationally accredited center specialized in weight loss surgery and robotic techniques, which provides assistance to local patients and international patients.
The innovative doctor has been key in the teamwork for the design and strategies of the Hospital Metropolitano de Santiago (HOMS), currently serving as deputy director, which has a great impact on the provision of health services in the northern region of the country and the Dominican community living abroad.
In 2019, HOMS started building a hotel tower to host international patients who come to the Dominican Republic for healthcare services.
The HOMS Professional-Hotel Tower consists of two buildings; one of thirteen levels, of which 10 will be used for medical consultation spaces, with state-of-the-art offices.
The second building consists of ten levels aim to provide recovery and post-operative stay services, stays for relatives, and medical professionals who come from abroad to perform medical procedures at HOMS.
In addition, the professional complex will additionally have a conference room, with a capacity for almost 400 people, auxiliary business rooms, multiple classrooms, and spaces for events with more than 700 people.
Characteristics that will make the establishment a milestone to promote health tourism in the Dominican Republic and the North zone of the country.
Dr. Alejandro Cambiaso
Dr. Alejandro Cambiaso is the main promoter of medical tourism in the Dominican Republic and one of the most recognized experts in prevention in the Caribbean region. Thanks to him, health tourism is on the national health agenda. He is a specialist in family and community medicine, health services quality specialist, and auditor, with a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in health center management.
The greatest contribution of Dr. Cambiaso is having been the founder and president of the Dominican Association of Health Tourism and co-author of the Health and Wellness Tourism Guide, forming important public-private alliances and the main cluster of local hospitals, favoring the quality and internationalization of Dominican medicine. For these initiatives, in 2015 he obtained the award of global leader in health tourism granted by the Medical Tourism Association (MTA), being the only Latin American to have received this distinction.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Hotels and Tourism (ASONAHORES), a member of the board of directors of the Plenitud Foundation, an advisor to the National Health Observatory, an expert consultant in the health, tourism, and insurance sectors.
Dr. Cambiaso leads the International Health and Wellness Tourism Congress, which arrives at its 5th edition in June 2021.
The activity is classified as the main event of the sector in Central America and the Caribbean and includes conferences, panels, spaces for networking, and the launch of the 3rd edition of the Dominican Republic Health and Wellness Tourism Guide.
The organizers’ highlight that the 5th version of the congress serves as a space to promote updating, business, and synergies between leaders of health centers, insurers, travel agencies, airlines, tour operators, hotels, the financial sector, government, transport, legal, pharmaceutical, and educational.
The list includes:
Dr. Mario Lama – Executive director of the National Health Service.
Dr. Santiago Hazim – Executive director of the National Health Insurance
Dr. Daniel Rivera – Minister of Public Health
Dr. Feris Iglesias – Head of the Superintendency of Health and Occupational Risks
Dr. José Rafael Yunen – President of the Medical Executive Board of Cedimat and Clinical Associate Professor at Montefiore Medical Center.
Dr. Victor Atallah – Medical advisor to the Executive Branch of the Dominican Republic.
Dr. Julio Landrón – President of the Dominican Orthopedic Society and director of the Dr. Ney Arias Lora Traumatological Hospital.