President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo toured healthcare facilities in the eastern region of the Estado de México, inviting residents to utilize IMSS-Bienestar clinics and hospitals while asserting that the system has reached a 98% medication supply rate.
Inspections and Public Confrontations in Texcoco, Chicoloapan, and Valle de Chalco
However, the tone shifted when the president moved to street-level oversight in Chicoloapan and Valle de Chalco. Standing outside local health units, Sheinbaum directly questioned residents about their access to care, asking: ¿Quién se atiende aquí en el centro de salud? Levanten la mano. ¿No se atienden aquí? ¿Dónde se atienden? ¿Y por qué no se atienden aquí?
Porque nunca hay nada
, respondió la gente que se encontraba a las puertas del recinto médico. Pero sí, a ver, ¿hace cuánto que no vienen?
Porque no nos reciben, Presidenta
. Challenging these recurring complaints, Sheinbaum assured citizens that operating procedures had changed through monthly medical distribution programs known as Rutas de la Salud, claiming that pharmacies now maintained a 98% stock level and had eliminated appointment ticket queues entirely, prompting a voice from the crowd to shout: ¿A qué hora? ¿A qué hora? Porque estamos tres de la mañana
. Los ciudadanos reunidos en el exterior de la clínica de la unidad habitacional ARA 1 expresaron su gratitud a la titular del Ejecutivo al notar una mejoría radical frente a las condiciones previas en tan solo dos días.
Contrasting Realities at the Hospital General Fernando Quiroz
The day concluded at the Hospital General Fernando Quiroz in Valle de Chalco amid heightened friction. While the presidential convoy entered through the emergency area, Sheinbaum walked through the main public entrance just before a steady rain began to fall. Outside the facility, crowds of low-income families waiting with critically ill patients voiced immediate grievances regarding basic access and hospital rules.
Family members protested that staff barred them from using the hospital’s internal restrooms, forcing relatives to pay six pesos repeatedly to use external facilities. One protestor noted: Yo tengo a mi padre aquí desde hace tres días. Él está grave, pero no nos dejan ingresar para ir al sanitario. Somos gente de escasos recursos y no podemos pagar seis pesos cada vez que nos dan ganas
. Las manifestaciones de descontento iniciaron en el momento en que se percataron de la llegada de las unidades móviles que integraban la comitiva presidencial.
The demonstrations surged as protesters observed the presidential convoy arriving. In response, hospital medical personnel and auxiliary police engaged the crowd directly, establishing an agreement to lift restrictions and permit waiting families access to the internal restrooms. Inside the facility, Sheinbaum continued her walkthrough, hearing complaints regarding medication and the conditions faced by family members during their stay.
Directives and Next Steps for the Eastern Edomex Region
Following the confrontations, Sheinbaum instructed Alejandro Svarch Pérez to conduct follow-up inspections the following week to evaluate patient treatment protocols and address unresolved complaints directly.
