Sheinbaum ISSSTE 120-day emergency health program, Digi Mart USA News (Ciudad de México): Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo announced an emergency program of 12 actions to be carried out over 120 days to strengthen medical services at the Institute of Security and Social Services for State Workers (ISSSTE). The measures include infrastructure works, hiring of personnel, acquisition of equipment and improvements in care for beneficiaries.
During her Tuesday morning press conference on November 3, the president explained that the strategy is also underway at the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) and will later be implemented at IMSS Bienestar, as part of federal government efforts to improve the capacity of the public health system.
ISSSTE Director General Martí Batres Guadarrama said the program includes hiring 1,710 specialist physicians, 502 nurses and 250 general practitioners, with the aim of expanding staff availability in medical units and strengthening consultation and hospitalization services.
Key measures include building 100 new consulting rooms that will form part of the Universal Health Service, and completing hospital works in Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Michoacán, State of Mexico and Guerrero, along with launching new infrastructure projects in other states.
In Durango, the plan provides for comprehensive rehabilitation of the Gómez Palacio Hospital Clinic, while work will also begin at medical facilities in Culiacán, Sinaloa, and Mexico City, and at health centers with expanded services in Tabasco and Chiapas.
The strategy also includes completing rehabilitation and equipping of 55 operating rooms, maintaining hospital facilities, acquiring 75 electromechanical units, and servicing 5,000 air conditioning units, 130 emergency generators and 87 elevators.
On technology, the ISSSTE plans to acquire 130 high-technology devices for 103 medical units, including 69 computed tomography scanners, 53 mammography units, seven magnetic resonance imaging systems and one linear accelerator, intended to strengthen diagnostic and treatment services.
Another central component is the remodeling of 64 emergency rooms, which will receive new equipment, including 213 red crash carts with defibrillators, 701 vital signs monitors, 485 Pasteur tables and 840 chair-beds for patients’ relatives.
The program also contemplates enabling 50 continuous-care consulting rooms, eliminating the prior procedure for verifying rights eligibility, and implementing priority care mechanisms for vulnerable populations, with the goal of reducing administrative barriers to accessing medical services.
Regarding medication supply, the target is to maintain a general stock level of 97 percent and guarantee at least 95 percent in all medical units, as well as achieve complete dispensing of electronic prescriptions.
The program also seeks to reduce the backlog of surgical procedures, particularly hernia, gallbladder, cataract, prostate and knee operations, increase minimally invasive interventions, and double the number of consultations conducted via telemedicine.
Batres Guadarrama reported that between 2025 and 2026 the ISSSTE acquired 710 new ambulances, 2,275 electric hospital beds, 927 radiolucent stretchers and 330 beds for intensive care units, along with various specialized equipment.
On labor matters, he reported the addition of 4,078 specialist physicians, the conversion of 7,605 workers to permanent positions, and the re-leveling of 51,173 employees, while another 20,917 workers benefited from a voluntary extension of their workday from six to eight hours.
He also said five hospitals were built during that period in Torreón, Tlajomulco, Acapulco, Tampico and Cuernavaca, and 12 Family Medicine units and 133 new consulting rooms were opened.
IMSS Director General Zoé Robledo Aburto presented progress on the emergency program applied at that institution, highlighting an 8 percent salary increase granted to 565,339 workers and 370,537 retirees and pensioners.
On labor regularization, he explained that 3,600 workers have already obtained permanent positions, representing 33 percent progress toward the target of 10,939 employees covered by this strategy.
He also announced that on Tuesday, November 3, a call for medical personnel will be published to fill 2,500 positions through the IMSS official specialist physician recruitment portal.
In hospital infrastructure, the agency reported progress in installing high-technology medical equipment, including 28 computed tomography scanners, linear accelerators, angiographs and mammography units, along with the acquisition of furniture and equipment for hospitals and emergency units.
To strengthen the supply of medicines and supplies, IMSS is carrying out an emergency purchase worth 88.4 million pesos and installing incomplete-prescription reporting modules in 98 hospitals to monitor supply at institutional pharmacies.
Robledo Aburto said that, as part of measures to reduce the surgical backlog, 561 surgeries were performed over one weekend in 20 hospitals, and that starting November 15 specialty consultations are planned to be offered during evening hours and on weekends.
Additional actions include strengthening emergency services and implementing a text-message mechanism to inform relatives about the health status of hospitalized patients.
The 12-action, 120-day program will be applied at the ISSSTE and continue at the IMSS, with measures focused on expanding medical staffing, improving hospital infrastructure, increasing medication availability and addressing accumulated backlogs in public health services.
