The Mexican state of San Luis Potosí has received 10 of the Cuban specialists out of 50 that it expects in the coming months
14ymedio, Madrid, 25 June 2024 — The governor of the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí, Ricardo Gallardo, told local media this Monday that “there are 10 Cuban specialists starting operations” out of the 50 who he hopes will join them in the coming days. These include neurosurgeons, urologists, gynecologists and orthopedists.
However, among the doctors who arrived in the state there are dermatologists, pediatricians, psychiatrists, and a rehabilitator, specialties that are not included on the list of services required by the state of Potosí, and which were requested from the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The doctors were sent to the municipalities of Valles (6) and Rioverde (4).
According to state data, there are more than 400 orthopedic surgeries pending, in addition to hernia and gallbladder operations and dialysis processes
According to state data, there are more than 400 pending orthopedic surgeries, in addition to hernia and gallbladder operations and dialysis processes that have not been carried out due to lack of personnel.
“Neurosurgical specialists are generally in private practice. In the state we do not have any in public practice,” stated the governor.
Gallardo, who a month ago had promised the arrival of 109 specialists, 90% from the Island, confirmed that the high-specialty hospital in Ríoverde will be operational in July. The center will have 120 beds, operating rooms and new laboratories and is part of IMSS-Bienestar, the free health organization created by the López Obrador government for 23 states in the country.
The incorporation of Cubans has generated discomfort from the College of the Medical Profession – a non-profit NGO – and among specialists, who believe that they are taking away positions from Mexican doctors.
Acosta Díaz de León noted that Cubans have a contract, without specifying the duration, and “at the end they must go on vacation and then they could return.”
The president of the College, Antonio Chalita Manzur, denounced the presence of the island’s doctors to the State Commission for Protection Against Health Risks (Coepris) for failing to comply with the administrative requirements to practice their profession. “To work legally as doctors in San Luis Potosí, it is necessary to equate the degree they have from their country of origin with the studies carried out in Mexico,” he stressed.
The head of the IMSS-Bienestar in San Luis Potosí, Daniel Acosta Díaz de León, acknowledged the discomfort over the hiring of specialists from the Island. However, he argued “that no matter how many calls we have made, it has not been possible to fill the places, which is why we resorted to hiring Cuban doctors.”
Acosta Díaz de León noted that the Cubans have a contract, without specifying the duration, and “at the end they must go on vacation and then they could return to work.”
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