How is COVID-19 Impacting Medical Travel Programs Around the Globe?

May 13, 2020

In this unique three-part video series you will learn about the different strategies medical travel programs at three specialized ambulatory centers have taken to deal with the crisis and prepare for life after COVID-19.

In Part 1, Karen Timmons, GHA's Chief Executive Officer, interviews Dr. Erik Fleischman, former Medical Director for Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand and current Executive Medical Director at Bangkok Anti-Aging Center, a Regenerative Medicine, Anti-Aging and Aesthetics Center.



Dr. Fleischman is a physician and surgeon with over 25 years of experience in over 25 countries, having practiced in the clinical fields of Oncology, Infectious Diseases, Anti-aging, Public Health, General Practice and Emergency Medicine.

  • Erik Fleischman was the former Senior Clinical Advisor for the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative and spent seven years with the foundation working on three continents.
  • In 2014 Dr. Fleischman joined the fight against the Ebola epidemic as Assistant Medical Director and Director of Training for four rural USAID funded Ebola Treatment Units in remote Liberia. He was responsible for the training of over 500 local Liberian Ebola workers.

In Part 2, Karen Timmons, GHA's Chief Executive Officer, interviews Dr. Ariel Ortiz, Director at Obesity Control Center in Tijuana, Mexico. In this 25-minute interview, you will hear about the strategies and activities Dr. Ortiz and his team have taken to manage through the COVID-19 crisis. These include discussing medical travel patient protocols implemented as the crisis began, unique communication and education strategies, and the use of telehealth. The interview concludes with a discussion about the future of medical tourism.



Dr. Ariel Ortiz is a Board Certified General Surgeon with a specialty in Bariatric Surgery with nearly two decades of experience in the field of weight loss surgery. Dr. Ortiz has traveled and lectured extensively in the United States and Canada. As a consultant for Inamed Medical he proctored and performed surgery in over 100 hospitals in the United States, including Cleveland Clinic, University of Chicago Medical Center, Mayo Clinic, UCLA Medical Center, NYU Hospital, Mount Sinai, Lenox Hill, to name a few.

In Part 3, Karen Timmons, GHA's Chief Executive Officer, interviews Dr. Atanas Iantchev, Director at Vela Clinic in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. In this 21-minute interview, you will hear about the strategies and activities Dr. Iantchev and his team have taken to manage through the COVID-19 crisis. Vela Clinic is an outpatient center that has a very unique business model: providing 24/7 primary care services to pediatric patients using a subscription payment model. During the interview, Dr. Iantchev discusses risk mitigation strategies the clinic has implemented for the coronavirus, as well as education and communication strategies  - including the "Vela Clinic School," which provides continuous education to parents to help them better manage a child's illness and communication with the clinic's physicians.



Dr. Atanas Iantchev is a pediatrician with over 30 years of experience in Bulgaria's healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. In 2000, he launched the Vela Clinic to reach an under-served population of pediatric patients, providing comprehensive monitoring and follow-up to better identify and control health conditions. The clinic, with its unique subscription model, has experienced significant growth, expanding to three clinics in different parts of the country and is still the only clinic of its kind in the region.