After more than a year, they await the IMSS Bienestar base.

More than a year after they resigned from temporary contracts in Coahuila and moved to states that accepted the federalization of the health system, workers in La Laguna are still waiting for the permanent positions promised to them in April 2024 by the federal government through the Mexican Social Security Institute for Welfare (IMSS-Bienestar).

Through an official statement, the agency reported at the time that those wishing to relocate to federal entities that had signed their adhesion to IMSSBienestar would be guaranteed a space and a base ; however, until now, health personnel remain without job security.

Workers who preferred to remain anonymous and who are working at the General Hospital of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, recalled that on April 24, 2024, the only requirement they were asked to join the health institution was a copy of their voter registration card, along with the following written documentation: "I accept relocation to the state of Sinaloa, to the General Hospital of Mazatlán, Sinaloa. 04/24/2024..." On the same sheet, they added two personal phone numbers, their names, and signatures.

“In February 2024, the Human Resources department in Mexico City approached us to invite us to continue working because the temporary contracts with IMSS-Bienestar in Coahuila were about to end, because Coahuila hadn't signed them, and all that. Some of us had been with the State Health Secretariat for several years, and we accepted because our working conditions were supposed to improve. But when we arrived in Mazatlán, no one knew about us, because that was internal to the Federation; there was no legal document assigning one; it was just a copy of our credentials, and we wrote in our own handwriting that we accepted,” they mentioned.

The dissatisfied staff have traveled to the IMSS-Bienestar headquarters in Mexico City, but they claim they have disassociated themselves from the situation and that, until November 2024, they were even listed in the electronic file of the ISSSTE, where they have their social security system, in the Coahuila state accounting office, in the National System of Affiliation and Validity of Rights (Sinavid).

In January of this year, they returned to the federal agency and were told that their situation would finally be regularized, but it never happened.

"We have the time clock to prove we're working, but we haven't signed contracts, we don't even have a credential from Mazatlán Hospital. I'm telling you, there are about 20 of us from La Laguna who are in this situation," said one of the protesters.

They delivered a letter to President Claudia Sheinbaum

On May 16 of this year, during the visit of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo to inaugurate the new ISSSTE Regional High Specialty Hospital in Torreón, health personnel presented her with a letter asking her to support them in their permanent status or, alternatively, to return to the state of Coahuila with a rehire in the State Health Services.

They explained the insecurity in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, as well as the economic situation, as they have to cover the rent for their homes and, at the same time, support their families in the Comarca Lagunera.

What's happening in Coahuila with the IMSS-Bienestar scheme?

Throughout the 2025 fiscal year, the temporary hiring of approximately 442 healthcare workers will remain in effect. They will provide their services in the state of Coahuila under the IMSS-Bienestar federal scheme.

The state's Secretary of Health, Eliud Felipe Aguirre Vázquez, reported that at the beginning of the year, they signed an agreement with the Mexican government to maintain current contracts, effective until December 31, 2025, without the need to renew them every three months, as was previously the case.

Since last year, the Decentralized Public Agency (OPD) IMSS-Bienestar has extended the contract of temporary health personnel in the state several times, while the government of Coahuila is analyzing whether to accept the federalization of the health system. Regarding this issue, the secretary indicated that they must await the negotiations between the state governor, Manolo Jiménez Salinas, and federal authorities, specifically those of Social Security.