You searched for CPI. We're Celva, a different Tijuana clinic. What follows is the honest comparison, sources at the bottom.
CPI stem cells in Tijuana: the 5-day program, and a 1-day alternative.
CPI, the Cellular Performance Institute, books its stem cell patients into six days and five nights around one day of treatment. With Celva, it's a single day. A Celva driver picks you up in San Diego, you're treated across the border, and most patients are home in their own bed that night.
A week with CPI
6 days, 5 nights.
96 hours in Mexico
1 night San Diego · 4 nights Tijuana
- Sun
- Mon
- Tue
- Wed
- Thu
- Fri
A day with Celva
1 day, 0 nights.
About 4½ hours in Mexico
Most home the same day
- Sun
- Mon
- Tue
- Wed
- Thu
- Fri
A 15-minute call with a patient coordinator. No obligation.
CPI's 5-day protocol, day by day
One injection day, booked two ways. CPI spreads its week across 6 days; Celva does it in a single day. Both are example schedules: CPI publishes its days but no clock times, and a Celva day may be morning or afternoon. Hover any block to see the day.
One injection day, booked two ways. CPI spreads its week across 6 days; Celva does it in a single day. Both are example schedules: CPI publishes its days but no clock times, and a Celva day may be morning or afternoon. Tap any event to see the details.
1 day · 0 nights away
At home
6 days · 5 nights away
SunDay 0
MonDay 1
TueDay 2
WedDay 3
ThuDay 4
FriDay 5
Celva patient reviews, on film
They flew in, got treated, and slept at home.
Four real Celva patients, in their own words, filmed at Hospital Angeles. No stock footage and no scripts. The rest are on the patient stories page.
Individual results vary.
Watch their films
Comparing clinics? Do it properly.
The 28 questions that expose a bad clinic before you pay a deposit. They work on any Tijuana clinic, ours included. Open it and grade every clinic on your list against the same questions.
When you want numbers for your own case, the first call takes 15 minutes. Your written, itemized quote follows once the physician team has reviewed your records.
9 pages, 28 questions. Read it here or save the PDF. No email required.
How much of CPI's week is spent in Mexico?
Same route. One injection day. Ninety-six hours in Mexico.
One patient, flying from Boise. One injection day, two example itineraries running side by side: the clock, the daily driving, and every hour CPI spends in Mexico that you would spend at home.
Home. Finally.
Five nights and 11 rides later.
You're done. You're not in Mexico anymore.
One day of treatment, then home.
An example week. Flight times: Boise–San Diego nonstop, 2h05. CPI's days follow its own published walkthrough; CPI publishes no clock or drive times, so those are estimates. Celva's day is an example: about 4 hours at the hospital, morning or afternoon. Geometry: Natural Earth.
Is CPI a group program?
CPI runs its week as a group. You cross the border on CPI's shuttle, sleep in the same hotel, and join the group dinner on the first night. Celva treats one person at a time, from the pickup to the injection to your own bed that night. For a lot of people, the privacy is the whole decision.
Group programTheir attention is split across a group.
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- TransportCPI's shuttle between the hotel and the clinic, there and back, every day of the week.
- LodgingFour nights in the same Tijuana hotel as the rest of your group.
- MealsA group dinner on the first night.
- The procedureIVs and hyperbaric sessions in a large chamber, run on the week’s schedule.
- Who else is thereThe rest of the week’s group, on your shuttle, in your hotel, and at dinner.
Private dayOur attention is all on you.
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- TransportA private vehicle and a Celva driver. Just you, and anyone you bring.
- LodgingNone. Most patients are home in their own bed that night.
- MealsWherever you want. Most patients have dinner at their own table.
- The procedureA private room in Hospital Angeles, with your own physician team.
- Who else is thereYour care team. That is the entire guest list.
Is the treatment the same at CPI and Celva?
This is the fair part. On most of these eight points CPI and Celva are alike in kind, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. The cells are the row that differs: Celva's come in three types, from a process developed in-house and used nowhere else. Everything we leave out is in the next section, and none of it is the treatment.
Both programs treat in licensed Tijuana facilities under Mexican regulation. Neither is FDA-approved for these indications in the United States.
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| What you get | Celva1 day · 0 nights | CPI6 days · 5 nights |
|---|---|---|
| Donor cells | Three cell types, a process developed in-house | Umbilical-cord cells, expanded in-house |
| Cell release checks | Re-checked the morning of treatment | Release criteria before use |
| Imaging before treatment | At the hospital when your case needs it | X-ray and MRI during the week |
| Records and workup | Records review, labs when the physician team asks | Blood work panel, vitals, EKG |
| Licensed Mexican facility | Hospital Angeles Tijuana | Licensed hospital, Playas de Tijuana |
| Physician-administered | Ultrasound or fluoroscopy guidance | Guided by interventional radiology |
| Same region | Tijuana, across the border from San Diego | Tijuana, across the border from San Diego |
| Documented follow-up | Calls at 1 week, 1, 3 and 6 months, then yearly | Follow-up calls after you return home |
| The cells aside | Alike | Alike |
What fills the rest of CPI's week?
Everything below is on CPI’s six-day itinerary and off ours. None of it is the application of the cells, and keeping it would mean keeping you in Mexico for a week.
NAD+ infusions
Up to 4 sessions
The evidence for IV NAD+ next to cell therapy is thin, and CPI's own walkthrough offers anti-nausea medication alongside it. It fills the schedule.
Hyperbaric oxygen
3 sessions
The studies that show a benefit, new blood vessels and stem-cell mobilization, ran twenty to forty sessions over several weeks. Three sessions in a week do not match that protocol.
Myers cocktail and ozone IVs
Day 1
Vitamin and ozone drips are the standard filler of a medical-tourism week. They fill the first day, 2 days before the injection.
Co-founder’s presentation
About 2 hours
About 2 hours of the week in a group session on recovery and what to expect. Celva covers that in your briefing on the day.
Facials and optional extras
As booked
Extras offered mid-stay are not part of a cell protocol. We will not put an offer in front of you on the day you are least able to judge it.
Five hotel nights and daily van rides
5 nights, 6 days
The hotel nights and the daily driving are not treatment. They are the cost of running patients through a six-day group program.
What is left is the part that works, in one day instead of six. None of the extras are free.
Before you decide
A 15-minute call with a patient coordinator. No obligation.
Is CPI the Cellular Performance Institute?
Yes. CPI is the Cellular Performance Institute, the Tijuana clinic that runs the 5-day group program compared on this page. Celva is a different provider. CPI's itinerary above follows CPI's own published materials. The clock times are examples.
What about patient reviews?
Ours are filmed. Four reviews are on this page and the rest are on the patient stories page. For CPI's side, the sources at the bottom include CPI's own walkthrough of the week.
Is this a sales call?
No. It is 15 minutes to see whether you are a candidate and to answer your questions. If you are not a fit, we will tell you.
How do I know if I qualify?
Candidacy is decided by the physician team against your records, not a web form. The call is where that starts.
How does the border crossing work?
We handle it. A Celva driver takes you down and back on the same day in a private vehicle, and your patient coordinator is on the phone. One trip, not a daily shuttle for five days.
How soon could I come in?
Most patients schedule their day within a few weeks of the call. Most patients are home in their own bed that night.
Who actually treats you at Celva?
Physicians, inside Hospital Angeles, a full hospital. Your records are reviewed by the physician team before treatment is recommended, and the physicians who lead care, Dr. Cesar Amescua, Dr. Rocio Ambrosio Nuño, and Dr. Alejandro Castillo, are introduced on the physicians page.
What if something goes wrong?
Ask any clinic this question before you book; the answer tells you who they are. Ours is written down: what happens when something goes wrong covers the expected soreness, the rare events, and the protocol that manages them, in a hospital that can escalate on the spot.
Sources
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- CPI's FAQ (cellularperformanceinstitute.com/faqs). The 5-Day Protocol, the Hyatt hotel stay, ground transportation, the in-house umbilical-cord cells, interventional radiology guidance, and the follow-up calls.
- CPI's "A Week at CPI" (their own day-by-day walkthrough, on cellularperformanceinstitute.com). The day 0 arrival in San Diego, the daily shuttle, the day 1 IVs, the co-founder's session on day 2, injection day on day 3, and the recovery days.
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Read the comparisonStill weighing your options?
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