Colombia, and in particular Medellin, is a country with great potential for health tourism. The suitability of Colombian doctors and specialists is recognized around the world.

In an entity like the Pablo Tobón Uribe Hospital, 122 foreigners have been cared for in the past five years, patients who come looking for services in orthopedics, urology, internal medicine and cancer treatments.

The National Government is about to close a tender with a design consulting firm responsible for designing a strategy that will allow the country to internationalize the excellent healthcare services available.

Between 2006 and 2007, 869 people have died while in the process of being remitted to specialized care units. This year, 14,000 patients were transferred by Metrosalud to Antioquia’s Regional Health Office to be treated at levels 1, 2 and 3.

Although there is no knowledge of the kind of service they received, 15,973 ‘tutelas’(writ for protection of constitutional rights) filed by the users of healthcare services indicate that timely service is lacking.