Zihuatanejo Needs a New Public Hospital

The combined population of the three municipios of La Union, Zihuatanejo, and Petatlan was about 197,000. Presumably that number has increased.

I live on Vancouver island in Canada.

Example #1.

The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) has a population of approximately 170,367 (2021 Census).

Located in Nanaimo, Nanaimo Regional General Hospital is the central acute-care hub for the mid-island region. It operates as a regional referral center, meaning it supports smaller community health centers from Bowser and Parksville down to Ladysmith. It features a full emergency department, intensive care unit (ICU), inpatient surgical suites, psychiatric care, and comprehensive maternity/pediatric wards.

NRGH hosts a specialized, state-of-the-art Medical Device Reprocessing Department and has seen recent expansions, including a new permanent intensive care unit to support the rapidly growing regional population.

Example #2

The Comox Valley Regional District has a population of 72,445, but when combined with the adjacent Strathcona Regional District (roughly 48,000) and the northern Alberni-Clayoquot corridors, this entire upper-island healthcare catchment serves a combined baseline population approaching 140,000 to 160,000 residents.

The North Island Hospital (Comox) opened in 2017 as a modern, purpose-built acute care facility designed to consolidate regional care. It operates in tandem with its sister campus in Campbell River to cover the northern geography. The hospital provides 24/7 emergency services, acute inpatient care, general surgery, obstetrics, diagnostic imaging (including CT and MRI), and specialized outpatient clinics.

Designed to modern environmental and medical standards, it features a high percentage of single-patient rooms to enhance infection control and patient privacy, serving as the primary anchor for the northern half of the island.

Example #3

The Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) has an official census population of 89,013.

The Cowichan District Hospital serves as the primary acute-care center for the diverse communities spanning from Malahat up to Ladysmith, and west to Lake Cowichan. It features a 24-hour emergency department, general surgery, intensive care, inpatient psychiatry, and a dedicated maternity care unit.

The existing facility is currently being replaced by an entirely new, state-of-the-art Cowichan District Hospital on Gibbins Road. The new facility is designed to be significantly larger, incorporating enhanced trauma spaces, expanded inpatient capacity, and modernized infrastructure to better support the valley’s population demands.

I’m not convinced that the population of 179,000 in the three municipios is so remarkably superior to the health of Canadians that the need for services is so dramatically lower that for these Mexicans “the population of seriously ill people is too low to have providers maintain their skills”.

It might be that the population of seriously ill people is sitting at home, disabled and waiting to die.

And then there is the adverse effect on the region due to gringos who say they are considering no longer spending their time (and money) in the area because of insufficient health care being available. (Cough, cough.)