IMSS hospital in Cancun, surpassed by COVID-19

“On the verge of collapse”. That is the situation of the Regional General Hospital (HGR) Number 17 of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), also known as the ‘Specialties’ Hospital of the 510th Region of Cancun, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This situation forced the transfer of patients with other diseases and ailments to the Hospital General de Zona (HGZ) Number 3 of Avenida Cobá. Likewise, the IMSS will soon determine whether or not to install an Inflatable Hospital in the parking area of HGR 17.

Hermeticism and tension among IMSS personnel

In Cancun, COVID-19 counts two of the four deaths reported by the State Health Services in total, according to this Sunday’s cut, the holiday destination registers 58 of the 86 total positive cases of the entity.

That is, 68% of coronavirus patients in the eleven municipalities of Quintana Roo. Seven out of 10 infections occur in Cancun. The hermeticism, fear, and tension deprive the medical, nursing and laboratory staff, and even the security personnel of HGR 17.

An attitude that would sound ‘exaggerated’ to the ‘only’ 12 patients with COVID-19 reported by the State Health Services as having been hospitalized in the IMSS.

Relatives of people hospitalized for reasons other than coronavirus cannot communicate with doctors because of the protocols that prevent access to the ‘Specialties’ Hospital. This means that there is no certainty about what happens inside HGR 17.

Inflatable Hospital, a contingency option

The IMSS will define in the next few hours whether or not to install an Inflatable Hospital in the parking area of HGR 17, this, because of the imminent collapse of medical services in the clinic. As in other health institutions, the medical personnel of the “Hospital de Especialidades” of the IMSS expressed on March 24th their disagreement with the lack of supplies to attend the contingency of COVID-19.