The number of specialist doctors grew by 7,302 in five years

Mexico City. With the federal government’s strategies to provide a greater number of specialist doctors in the country, the number of professionals in medical specialties hired in 2019 increased from 18,626 to 25,928 as of July of this year.

This applies to the 23 entities that participate in the IMSS-Bienestar system, which provides services to more than 50 million people without social security in the country.

According to the update presented by the head of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), Zoé Robledo, today in these states there are 7,302 more medical specialists than in 2019.

The official presented at President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s morning press conference on Tuesday the progress of the federalization program for public health services known as IMSS-Bienestar, where he explained that the objective is to improve the public health system for people without social security.

Giving details by state, he said that in Nayarit in 2019 there were 273 specialist doctors for 19 hospitals, and after the recruitment processes launched by the health authorities, the figure of 536 was reached, an increase of 96 percent.

In Tlaxcala, the number of specialists in 22 hospitals increased from 516 to 828, an increase of 60 percent.

In Colima, in 2019, there were 328 specialists in 14 hospitals; and today there are 458, an increase of 40 percent.

Five years ago, there were 775 specialists in 30 hospitals in Sonora. The current figure is 1,149, equivalent to 48 percent more.

In Sinaloa the figures are: 779 for 41 hospitals in 2019 and today the figure reaches 1,133, an increase of 46 percent.

In Baja California Sur, five years ago there were 212 specialists for 12 hospitals and today there are 334 of these health professionals, an increase of 57 percent.

In Veracruz, the number of specialists increased from 1,579 in 2019 to 2,197 today, an increase of 39 percent.

In Guerrero and Campeche the figures are: from 674 in 17 hospitals to 999, 48 percent more; and from 263 in 17 hospitals to 483, 87 percent more, respectively.

In Michoacán, the number of specialists increased from 1,441 five years ago to 1,421, a 37 percent increase; in Morelos, there were 494 for 23 hospitals and today there are 670, a 36 percent increase; while in Zacatecas, the number increased from 557 specialists for 28 hospitals in the state to 764, an increase of 37 percent in this five-year period.

In 2019, in San Luis Potosí there were 459 specialists for 28 hospitals and today there are 621, equivalent to 35 percent more; in Oaxaca it went from 988 for 52 hospitals to 1,333, also 35 percent more; and in Tamaulipas there were 1,117 for 43 specialty clinics to 1,463, a 31 percent increase.

In Quintana Roo, there were 484 specialist doctors in 18 hospitals in 2019 and today there are 645, which represents a 33 percent increase in staff; in Hidalgo, there was a change from 674 specialists to 999 in 17 hospitals, which is 48 percent more according to Robledo.

In Mexico City, he said, in 2019 there were 381 specialists for 57 specialty hospitals, and to date there are 1,078, an increase of 182 percent.

In Chiapas, during that period, the number of specialists in 58 hospitals increased from 1,147 to 1,470 today, representing a 28 percent increase; in Tabasco, there were 151 specialists in 32 clinics and today there are 394, an increase of 160 percent; while in Puebla, the number increased from 1,469 in 60 hospitals to 1,945, representing a 32 percent increase.

In Baja California, in 2019, 626 specialists were employed in 15 clinics and currently there are 780, equivalent to 25 percent more; while in the state of Mexico the number went from 3,639 in 90 hospitals to 4,228, 16 percent more.