July 24, 2023, Update: City officials from Tijuana said the medical lane in Otay is open Monday to Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and if travelers are crossing near closing time, they should call the person that gave them the pass so they can contact the operators of the lane — Ed.
On Wednesday, the Otay Mesa Port of Entry opened its new fast lane booth that will serve U.S. residents who have medical appointments or serve those who need to conduct business south of the border.
"Without a medical pass, you make a lot of line, and it takes many hours. It’s also very slow to return to the United States," explained Fabiola Gomez, a resident of Oxnard, California, who was the first person to use the new fast lane.
Doctors in Tijuana reported that this booth in Otay will be the third in the city because the San Ysidro Port of Entry has two others.
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"There is a booth that is in San Ysidro attached to the left side of the Mexico bridge, which is for general traffic and there is one that was enabled for Ready Lane that reopens next month and this is going to be combined," explained Rodrigo Robledo, general director of the Medical Health Cluster in Baja California.
Authorities reported that there will be assigned police to monitor the proper functioning of the fast lane.
Meanwhile, doctors in Tijuana pointed out that the medical passes this year alone reached 296,000 in Tijuana and generated more than $80 million pesos, which showed the importance of this lane in Tijuana.
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"Everything in Zona Rio is saturated. In the downtown area, I say new spaces are being created but obviously, this has to be expanded by the rest of the city, already the Otay area has a new hospital," added Abraham Sánchez, president of Medical Health cluster.
The doctors said that although surgeries are one of the biggest attractions in the state for the foreign community, 50% of those who come to Tijuana for medical tourism do so to go to the dentist.
This story was originally reported by NBC 7's sister station, Telemundo 20. To read the article, click here.
