A NEW IMSS GENERAL ZONE HOSPITAL IS NEEDED IN IRAPUATO

On August 5, at the headquarters of the H. Technical Council of the IMSS in Mexico City, a working meeting convened by Mtro. Tereso Medina Ramírez, General Secretary of the National CTM, was held between Mtro. Zoé Robledo Aburto, National Director of the IMSS, and business chambers, company executives, and union leaders from Guanajuato, notably Hugo Varela Flores, General Secretary of the CTM in Guanajuato, and Alejandro Rangel Segovia, General Secretary of SITIMM, where all agreed on the need for health infrastructure to grow at the same pace as formal employment and productive activity in Irapuato and the region.

It is worth recalling that, during the International Labor Day commemoration held at the Irapuato City Museum and organized by SITIMM, Mtro. Tereso Medina Ramírez pledged to help carry out the necessary arrangements for the construction of the new IMSS General Zone Hospital in Irapuato and thus expand medical care for the region’s beneficiaries.

During the working meeting, the strategic location of the site known as “La Palma” was highlighted for the construction of the new IMSS General Zone Hospital (HGZ), with the aim of avoiding the hospital overcrowding registered by the region’s current HGZ, now 50 years old; the new hospital will serve more than 500,000 beneficiaries from Irapuato, Abasolo, Pénjamo, Valle de Santiago, Pueblo Nuevo, Romita, Huanímaro, and Cuerámaro. It was also noted that nearly 60% of the workforce of companies in the city of Silao resides in the city of Irapuato and neighboring municipalities.

The CTM representatives noted that the growth of the automotive, metalworking, food, textile, footwear, and apparel sectors has steadily increased the insured population and the pressure on clinics and hospitals, particularly in the industrial corridor made up of León, Silao, Irapuato, Salamanca, and Celaya; as a result, despite the efforts of IMSS staff, installed capacity has been exceeded in various areas of the state.

Mtro. Zoe Robledo shared the IMSS’s progress in the state, the projects that will strengthen medical care, the upcoming inauguration of the new Specialties Hospital in Guanajuato Capital, and the joint effort to secure 6 plots of land for the construction of the Child Education and Care Centers (CESI), which provide comprehensive development, health, nutrition, and early education, free of charge, to the daughters and sons of insured workers from 43 days old to 4 years of age

The CTM acknowledged the investments made by the IMSS, as well as the progress of the new IMSS hospital in Guanajuato Capital, which will soon be fully operational, with a greater number of beds, specialties, operating rooms, and emergency services. However, this infrastructure alone will not be enough to respond to the demographic, industrial, and labor growth of the entire state.

Taking the floor, Alejandro Rangel Segovia reiterated the importance of having greater infrastructure in the municipality of Irapuato, and personally delivered the technical dossier and an intersectoral agreement signed by all attendees.

The business sector present at the meeting backed the request and stressed that Guanajuato is one of Mexico’s main economic engines, and therefore requires modern, sufficient, and timely medical services. An economy that generates more investment and thousands of formal jobs also needs to expand social protection for those who make that growth possible.

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At SITIMM-CTM, we understand that for the beneficiaries in Guanajuato, the construction of a new General Zone Hospital in Irapuato — thereby expanding and improving medical care — is of the utmost importance. We therefore thank the IMSS authorities, the business sector, government and local authorities, and the Confederación de Trabajadores de México, through its leader, Mtro. Tereso Medina Ramírez, for their willingness and collaboration in continuing to push forward and make the construction of the new Hospital a reality, which will benefit more than 350,000 beneficiaries.