IMSS Invests US$442 Million in Hospitals in 14 States

The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) invested US$442 million in 14 Mexican states to improve hospitals and health units. The funds also allowed it to acquire 84,000 new pieces of equipment for first and second level of care, which include: magnetic resonance units, anesthesia units and mammography machines. 

Zoé Robledo, Director General, IMSS, explained via a press release that the investment helped improved 283 hospitals and almost 6,000 health units. The 14 states benefited by this program were: Nayarit, Tlaxcala, Colima, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Campeche, Guerrero, Veracruz, Michoacan, San Luis Potosi, Oaxaca and Zacatecas. Meanwhile, four other states could also receive similar support, which are Tamaulipas, Hidalgo, Quintana Roo and Mexico City.

Robledo explained that MX$1 billion (US$56 million) were destined for conservation actions in 971 first-class units to improve floors, soffits, bathrooms, perimeter fences, painting, window repair, electrical and sanitary installations. IMSS specified that MX$1.4 billion (US$78 million) were destined for waterproofing, adaptation, recovery of pharmacies and warehouses, plumbing actions, sanitary facilities and machine rooms in hospitals.

The rest of the budget, a total of MX$5.4 billion (US$302 million), was used to purchase 84,000 new sets of magnetic resonance units, radiotherapy units, angiography units, X-rays units, hospital beds, mechanical ventilators, mammogram units, anesthesia units and surgical lights, among others. 

“These investments, together with the acquisition of medicines, allows increasing supply and filling prescriptions,” says Robledo.

The equipment acquisitions aim to help those states to provide better care, which can be a problem with outdated equipment. Mexican hospitals can find the acquisition of new equipment to be a complex process in part due to the complex regulatory requirements, explains Oscar Elizondo, Chairman, UCIN Médica. He says that the process to get COFEPRIS’s approval can be “long and tortuous,” requiring vast amounts of time, money and effort. 

“Mexico's health sector often works with outdated versions of the product other countries use. Medical devices are regulated alongside the pharmaceutical industry. While the latter is highly regulated, some medical devices do not require that rigor. The overregulation makes the industry slower,” says Elizondo, as reported by MBN.