A “small but steadily growing number” of U.S. residents “are moving across the border” into Mexican nursing homes, which provide care at a “fraction” of the price of U.S. facilities, reports USA Today.

About 40,000 to 80,000 U.S. retirees currently live in Mexico, but no data exist on the number of retirees who live in nursing homes.

Residents caution that quality of care varies greatly in an industry that is just getting off the ground here. Many Mexican nursing homes are “run out of private homes,” and, as a result, “regulation by state health departments is often spotty,” USA Today reports. In addition, some Mexican nursing homes “have suddenly gone bankrupt, forcing American residents to move,” and others “have rough edges, such as peeling paint or frayed sofas, that would turn off many Americans,” according to USA Today.

I have done work in the medical tourism arena for hospitals. I am fascinated by this concept for the nursing home industry. As we first noted, there was a story about a family going to India. Now we have it closer to home. Where is Canada in this mix?