Who is my surgeon, by name?
You should know before you book — not meet them the morning of. And their board certification should be verifiable in a public registry.
It’s the first question almost everyone asks, and it deserves a straight answer rather than a marketing one. Bariatric surgery is real surgery. It carries real risk, wherever in the world you have it, and any center that tells you otherwise is not being honest with you.
What you can judge a center on is who operates, where, what happens if something goes wrong, and whether they’ll tell you the truth about all three. Here is ours.
Not a promise that nothing goes wrong — a description of what stands between you and that possibility, at each stage.
Surgical approval costs nothing. You don’t pay until you reach the hospital — nothing is due before you arrive.
If pre-operative testing shows you can’t safely have surgery, you get a full refund. Not a partial one. And if you simply change your mind — your decision, not a medical one — you still don’t pay. That structure exists so nobody is ever financially pressured onto an operating table.
Every procedure is performed by a board-certified bariatric surgeon. Our surgeons hold certification through Mexico’s professional boards — the same bodies that credential surgeons across the country — and those certifications are publicly verifiable. You can read their credentials on our surgeons page and ask your coordinator for registry details.
Volume matters in surgery, and it’s the thing patients most often forget to ask about. Our surgeons perform bariatric procedures daily — not a few times a month. Ask any surgeon you’re considering how many they performed last week.
Surgery takes place in an accredited surgical hospital in Tijuana, in the city’s medical district — not a clinic or a converted space. Recovery is in the Pompeii facility, and right now every recovery room is private.
You’re under continuous monitoring through your stay, with nursing staff on site around the clock. Your companion can stay overnight in the room with you.
This is the part most centers are vaguest about, so we’ll be specific. Complication coverage is included in every bariatric package — not an upsell, not a tier you choose.
If a complication happens during your stay with us, you pay nothing out of pocket. Additional surgery, additional hospital nights, extended hotel stays, rebooking your flight — covered. We pay providers directly. No deductible, no claim forms to file.
See exactly what is and isn’t covered on the complication insurance page.
Pompeii Surgical has never been found negligent in any lawsuit, and has never been sued over the loss of a patient in surgery.
Since 2014 · more than 30,000 patients
Where our coverage stops. Our complication policy covers what we can directly control — your care while you’re with us in Mexico. We can’t control U.S. healthcare costs once you fly home, and we won’t pretend otherwise. If you develop a problem months later in the States, that’s between you and your U.S. insurer. We’d rather you know that now than discover it later.
And the honest part about risk. Every bariatric procedure carries a risk of complications, including serious ones. Your surgeon will walk you through the specific risks of your procedure and your own health profile before you consent to anything. If a center ever tells you their surgery is risk-free, walk away.
Including us. If a center can’t answer these quickly and specifically, that tells you something.
You should know before you book — not meet them the morning of. And their board certification should be verifiable in a public registry.
Volume is one of the clearest signals in surgery. A specific number given without hesitation means something.
Ask who pays, and get it in writing. “We’ll take care of you” is not an answer — ask what is covered, and what isn’t.
Money taken up front changes the incentive to tell you that you’re not a good candidate. We don’t take deposits at all.
Ask for photographs of the actual room you’ll be in, and whether it’s private. Then ask what monitoring you’ll have overnight.
Ask what happens to your money if testing says surgery isn’t safe for you. Ours is a full refund.
The honest answer is that safety depends on the centre, not the city. Tijuana has a large, established medical district treating a great many American and Canadian patients — alongside operations you would not want to go near. What matters is whether your surgeon is board certified, whether the hospital is accredited, and what happens if you have a complication.
Practically: you fly into San Diego and a driver crosses the land border with you. It is roughly forty minutes from the airport to the hospital, and you are with our people the whole way.
Pompeii Surgical has never been found negligent in any lawsuit, and has never been sued over the loss of a patient in surgery. We have operated since 2014 and treated more than 30,000 patients.
No surgical centre anywhere can promise nothing will ever go wrong. What we can tell you is who operates, where, and exactly what happens if a complication occurs.
Board-certified bariatric surgeons, certified through Mexico’s professional boards, operating in an accredited surgical hospital in Tijuana. Their credentials are publicly verifiable — see our surgeons and ask your coordinator for registry details.
Complication coverage is included in every bariatric package at no extra cost. If a complication occurs during your stay you pay nothing out of pocket — additional surgery, extra hospital nights, extended hotel stays and flight rebooking are covered, and we pay providers directly. Full detail on the complication insurance page.
You receive a full refund. Surgical approval is free, nothing is due before you reach the hospital, and if pre-operative testing shows surgery is not safe for you, you get your money back in full. We take no deposits at all.
Yes. Gastric sleeve, gastric bypass and revision surgery are major operations, and every one carries a risk of complications, including serious ones. Your surgeon will go through the specific risks for your procedure and your health profile before you consent. Any centre that describes weight-loss surgery as risk-free is not being straight with you.
Talk to a coordinator before you commit to anything. Approval is free, and nothing is due until you reach the hospital.