Catemaco health

it's bigger than it looks

Catemaco health care is something to die for.

My local family, who is not among the rich and famous of Mexico but does include 2 doctors, heads for Veracruz City specialists at the drop of a suspected problem. Need a new eyeglass prescripton? head for Veracruz. The kid is sick? head for Veracruz. Think you need an operation, head for Xalapa.

Apparently so far, I am the only one that has faith in the local doctors that have attended me, although I sympathize with serious trauma victims or those with serious problems who confront a voluntary or inadequate public ambulance trip to hospitals 3 hours away.

Veracruz classifies its public hospitals into 3 classes: 

Class 1 - a community hospital, with a few beds and a few specialists,

Class 2 - a regional "teaching" hospital with a few more beds and a few more specialists, but lacking major diagnostic tools, serious trauma care and a fully stocked pharmacy.  

Class 3 - a  full service hospital, but lacking a full pharmacy of branded drugs.

The closest class 3 hospitals are in Coatzacoalcos and Veracruz City. Nearby San Andrés Tuxtla has a class 2 hospital, Catemaco has a class 1.

In addition there are federal social security hospitals (IMSS), federal government employee hospitals (ISSTE), para governmental hospitals for PEMEX employees, military hospitals and private hospitals ranging from death traps to excellent. San Andrés has the equivalent of a class 2 IMSS hospitals and several small private hospitals. Catemaco has several private clinics with beds for operated patients.

The recent disaster of flooding and road destruction has now produced a beneficial result for the Catemaco population. The class 2 IMSS hospital at Lerdo de Tejada, which sustained major damage during the recent flood, will be abandoned and supposedly converted to a class 1.  Salvageable items were supposedly moved to San Andrés Tuxtla.

Unannounced, but projected, is the conversion of San Andrés into a class 3 hospital, which will probably take a few years, but will be a giant step in the right direction of local healthcare with improved facilites, equipment and specialists for a service area of more than 350 thousand people.

Update: the Veracruz representative for IMSS denies changes in Lerdo and proposes opening a tent hospital.

Catemaco Food

There are several excellent English blogs about Mexican Food, and all dwell on recipes, flavors, looks, etc.

A current  visitor to beautiful downtown Catemaco has now added a new wrinkle by concentrating on only canned and packaged food available in Mexico. Plus he rates them on taste. Definitely food for thought.

Visit Frosti's "Food in Mexico" website

Other good sites:

The Mija Chronicles

De la Tierra

Catemaco Island

Catemaco is royally screwed.

Highways to the north, south and west are disrupted. Heavy rains and the incompetents that manage the dams holding Laguna Catemaco in check, have resulted in parts of downtown Catemaco being flooded:

Enjoy the views of beautiful downtown Catemaco:

see 50 photos and a video

Update: the flood of  less than 2 feet lasted less than 36 hours.

Update: Sep 30 - No passage south or north of Catemaco

Update: 1 Oct - Catemaco to Acayucan - open 1 lane, backed up a mile.

Update: 4 Oct - Catemaco to Veracruz - open with caution.

Update: 6 Oct - Catemaco  to Veracruz - closed again, probably only for a day

Update: 7 Oct - Catemaco - Veracruz, open again

STAY HOME FOR A WEEK or a MONTH!

Catemaco Crock

Allegedly Veracruz was recently wiped out, flooded and destroyed by a recent hurricane, leaving 1 million victims behind among a statewide population of 7 million plus. That is a bunch of crock.

Nevertheless, US newspapers barely picked up on the story probably because only about 14 died  during the week when 20 or more were getting killed every day elsewhere in Mexico.

What did make the international news services though, was the escape of  a crock of 400 or so crocodiles from a breeding farm.

Mexican news was not immune. Every major paper headlined the story. A day later the equivalent of the environmental protection agency supervising the farm trumpeted that NO, the crocs DID NOT get out, and that they still are within the farm property.

Today the Veracruz governor announced that paying  hurricane victims for the capture of those crocodiles in their neighborhoods will be an economic boon to them.

I just love Mexico. It's almost as funny as Florida.

Pissed off in Catemaco

Republished from 2008
She did it again, and this time I hope my truck makes it in the rain.

My Popoluca had pissed me off and I ran away.

I crossed Laguna Catemaco to climb into the Santa Marta volcanic hills, said hello to an old guy in Tatahuicapan who had previously been friendly to me and asked him if the road was clear to El Paraiso, where I wanted to see some local parrots. Three hours later in 4x4 I am still climbing cattle trails until finally I stall out with a presumable transmission problem.

The village was not far away and I walked. And all stared and gave me the evil eye which is a sort of a double crossing of an index finger. And they said possibly tomorrow a car will arrive to take me back to the nearest other village. And I asked for hospice and was invited to sleep in the bed slatterns of a son who had emigrated to the US.

And they fed me something of cactus mixed with chicken and I avoided choking until the old man invited me to his personal stash and we sat and drank it and watched a million stars and talked about televison which he had seen in the low lying villages and wanted to have for his village.

None of this Jorge Castaneda stuff for me. By that time I was making google eyes at one of his resident daughters, but that rotgut finally kicked in and I passed out, I think.

And absolutely nothing mystical happened.

At 5:30 am, on a gorgeous cloudless but full moon sky filled with zillions of points of lights, the promised pickup truck arrived.

And hundreds of mini parrots screamed while we hauled down the mountain.

Update:
Forget it - That was some really bad rain, and I prefer my Popoluca.

Pajapan: 13 communities isolated.
Mecayapan: access to the coast wiped out.
Tatahuicapan: 23 communities stuck in the high sierra.
Soteapan: 2500 people isolated.
Hueyapan: totally inundated.
All roads south temporarily destroyed.

Isla Tepetapan, Catemaco

One of the totally unknown wonders of beautiful downtown Catemaco requires you to find a your  way among dilapitated housing in the suburb of Tepetapan to the entrance of the trail leading along the Rio de Catemaco.

 

Unknown to most, there is a large river island just south of Catemaco within the Rio de Catemaco, which runs from below the sluice gates  of the bridge near the main highway to just below Hotel Tepetapan.

 

Technically, the island is a federal zone. Practically it seems to be used by someone grazing cattle.

It is one of the very few areas immediate to Catemaco, that might give you an idea of what the city was like before it was pulled into the third millenium by the construction of a road to Catemaco in the 1950's.

Visit Isla Tepetapan