The best-known name in the field. A very different trip.
Stem Cell Institute (SCI) in Panama is the best-known name in this field, and for many people it is the first clinic they ever hear about. It has been at this for years and has helped a lot of patients. We get asked about them often, so here is an honest look at how the two visits compare, just what it is like to go and get the treatment, not the science.
Everything here comes from each clinic's own public materials. We are not here to run SCI down, they do real work, and for the right person they are a great fit. The two programs are just built around very different ideas of how much of your life the treatment should take up.
2 days vs. 5–8 days
Tijuana is a drive or a 30-minute flight from San Diego. Panama City is a long flight away, plus several days on the ground.
One day vs. several
A single visit and home, versus a multi-day program in Panama you settle in for. The trip length is the real difference.
A hospital, or a clinic
We treat inside a full hospital; SCI is a freestanding clinic. Not a quality claim, just a difference in the room you are in.
What each visit looks like, in one breath.
Both clinics serve mostly American patients paying out of pocket. The big difference is how far you travel and how long you are gone, once you pick one.
Celva
A single-day visit in a licensed hospital, a short drive or 30-minute hop from San Diego. Named physicians on your case, and home the same evening.
Stem Cell Institute
A multi-day program in Panama City, a long flight away, with several days on the ground and a hotel stay built into the week.
The trip, practically.
For an American patient, the country choice is the first real decision. The two travel profiles are not equivalent: not in flight hours, not in days on site, not in total spend. Below is the unsentimental version.
Tijuana is a border crossing. Panama is a continent away.
A single morning vs. a full week.
The trip length is the real difference. SCI's program runs across several days in Panama; ours is a single visit and home. Two different ways of doing it, not two schedules of the same day.
- From LA
- 2.5 hrdrive door-to-door, or 30 min from SAN airport.
- From NY
- ~6 hrflight + 30 min crossing at the border.
- Time on site
- 1 night, 2 days.Arrive previous evening; infusion next morning; depart same afternoon.
- Travel outside fee
- One round-trip flight + 1 hotel night + meals; nearby U.S. airports (SAN, LAX, TIJ).
- Same-day return
- Possiblefor southern CA patients; not recommended for others.
- If you need more
- You are already in a hospital.Handled on the same floor, no transfer.
- From LA
- ~7 hrflight, usually with connection.
- From NY
- ~5 hrdirect flight to PTY.
- Time on site
- 4–7 nights.Multi-day protocol structure requires extended stay.
- Travel outside fee
- International flight + 5–7 hotel nights + meals + ground transport. Protocol is multi-day; the lodging tail is structural.
- Same-day return
- Not applicablethe protocol itself is multi-day.
- If you need more
- It is a freestanding clinic.Anything more would mean going elsewhere in the city.
Who fits where.
Most comparison pages end with "and that is why we are better." We are not going to do that, because it is not true for everyone. Some people are a better fit at SCI, and some are a better fit here. It mostly comes down to how much of your time you want the trip to take.
You want the full trip.
- You want to make a real trip of it, a week in Panama with the treatment built into it.
- A long flight and several days away do not bother you, and you have the time to give.
- You like the idea of settling in, a hotel stay and a slower week around the visit.
- You have followed SCI for years, or someone you trust pointed you to them.
You want the treatment, not the trip.
- You would rather get the treatment and be home, not spend a week away.
- A short hop from San Diego suits you better than a flight to Central America.
- You cannot easily take a week off, and a single day works better for your life.
- You would rather sleep in your own bed than settle in for several nights in a hotel.
Two clinics. One is a continent away. One is a short hop from San Diego.
SCI built a multi-day program in Panama: a long flight, several days on the ground, and a hotel stay across the week. For the right person, that is a fine way to do it. We built the opposite, a single day from San Diego and home that evening. If you want the full week away, SCI is a great fit. If you want the treatment and your week back, that is us.