Since its inception Chapala Med has striven to set the benchmark for what primary care should ideally be. Our network of doctors and healthcare providers are all highly trained in their areas of expertise and we hold ourselves to the highest standards of excellence and ethics when it comes to providing care to our patients. 

We will focus on every aspect of your health in order to stratify your level of risk for the most common ailments that may affect you based on your personal, medical and family history thereby providing tailored guidance on disease prevention and healthcare catered to the values you hold dear at each stage of your life. 

Chapala Med will be the bridge back to your normal life in the event of hospitalization. Our departments of rehabilitation, nursing and palliative healthcare providers will provide you with support, guidance and counseling when you need it most. 

The Lakeside community and the expat community of the Guadalajara metropolitan area can continue to count on Chapala Med to provide medical care without language or cultural barriers to our patients who are native-speakers of English. We also of course will continue to maintain the best medical record system as we have since our practice’s inception. 

Dr. Santiago Hernández is a native of Chicago having grown up there since the age of 2 when his family emigrated from the state of Michoacan, Mexico. He attended Indiana University where he received his B.A. in Spanish and Biology. 

Having lived in the Chicagoland area for more than 30 years makes him a unique and effective communicator and healthcare provider in both English and in Spanish. His years of training in the U.S. make him exceptionally familiar with the U.S. healthcare system and those standards of care have allowed him to develop not only a solid knowledge base but also a keen sense and intuition of what the needs and expectations of American and Canadian patients may be. 

Receiving his medical training in Mexico and in the U.S., no language or cultural barriers exist while patients are under his care in the Chapala Lakeside area or in the event of hospitalization in Guadalajara. His years of training as a medical interpreter and 4 years in Family Medicine makes him exceptionally familiar with the standards of care in the U.S. healthcare system without losing sight of the care and compassion that has come to be recognized of the healthcare system in Mexico. 

Dr. Hernández, being an EXPAT himself, has a solid knowledge base and a keen sense and intuition of the needs and expectations of the AMERICAN and CANADIAN Expat community of Jalisco when it comes to their healthcare needs. These personal and professional assets have positioned Chapala Med as the GO-TO practice for EXPATS living in the Chapala Lakeside area and Guadalajara. 

Chapala Med is affiliated with Hospital Country 2000 in Guadalajara where Dr. Hernández enjoys hospital privileges. 

Providing healthcare access to those who cannot afford it is one of the ways Dr. Hernández gives back to the community. Dr. Hernández has been an active member of the ROTARY CLUB of Ajijic since 2013 and currently serves as the organization’s Past President. In addition, he provides free healthcare to members of the TEPEHUA community in Chapala Jalisco as well as to 105 students that are in the PATHWAYS SCHOOL SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM (part of OPERATION FEED). 

During his free time Dr. Hernández enjoys partaking in fitness activities, running, photography, tango dancing, cinema and organizing networking events for the local EXPAT communities of Chapala and Guadalajara.