Algarve gears up for Surgical Vacations

Monday, 26 July 2010 16:50

A luxury hotel in Quinta do Lago, Algarve, is transforming itself into a destination for Portuguese, British and Dutch guests to recover from cancer treatments, cosmetic surgery or receive medical treatment in room. There are four private hospitals in the Algarve - located in Faro, Lagos and Alvor, who are investing in "Health Tourism"  through partnerships with hotels. That is a vacation that that combines "quality medical services" with a "pleasant climate and the idyllic landscapes of the Algarve" in which patients and family members can stay at hotels thanks to partnerships with local hotel chain, reads the site Internet from one of these hospitals. Between 20-30 percent of patients in the newly opened private hospital in the Algarve are strangers and seek the service of health tourism. At the hospitals of Santa Maria de Faro and São Gonçalo de Lagos, where they perform more than 3,000 surgeries per year, there is also a large percentage of customers who choose those units to perform various surgeries and outpatient care.  The bulk of patients on surgical holidays come from England, Holland and Germany, where medical treatments in private is between 30-50 percent more expensive than in Portugal, a country that offers the same quality service at more competitive prices.