IMSS assures that it will quickly resolve the operation of elevators in medical units

Currently, the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) has 1,050 elevators in different units of the country, of which 85 are not operating, in some cases due to theft of components or vandalism. Regarding this, the general director of the Institution, Zoé Robledo Aburto said that they are working on a coordinated route to resolve any eventuality in the units more quickly.

It was announced that during the period from 2016 to 2023, preventive and corrective maintenance of vertical transportation equipment in Medical and non-Medical Units of the Institute was carried out through the resources of the Annual Operation Program (PAO). The total amount assigned was 105.1 million pesos, which represents an increase of 23 percent compared to the 2022 budget.

Robledo Aburto met with companies with the Mexican Association of Elevators and Electric Stairs, as well as with representatives of elevator companies that provide services to the Institute, in order to learn about the intervention on these devices and carry out a diagnosis of them.

The representatives of Elevadores Otis, S. de RL de CV, Eduardo Borges and Julio Castañeda attended the meeting; from kone México SA de CV Édgar Ávalos and Alejandro Delgado; of elevators Schindler SA de CV, Juan Antonio Peláez Hernández and Édgar Herrera, as well as Hugo González and Claudia Fernández, of the Mexican Association of Elevators and Electric Stairs AC

During the meeting, it was stated that, globally, the main elevator companies aim to ensure the safety of patients and medical staff by improving the physical and functional conditions of elevators.

To measure their work, examples of the intervention in public sector elevators carried out in countries such as Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Brazil and Bolivia were presented.

They detailed that in Mexico there are more than 90 thousand elevators in the public sector, coming from China, the United States, Brazil, Spain, Japan and Korea, whose average age is more than 20 years.

The Ministry of Economy and the Federal Consumer Protection Agency are the organizations responsible for monitoring compliance with official regulations in the country. It was reported that this is the first time that the IMSS has national contracts for preventive and corrective maintenance of vertical transportation equipment (elevators).

Which hospitals have reported failures in La Laguna?

It is worth mentioning that in La Laguna de Coahuila and Durango, in recent years failures have been reported in elevators of the High Specialty Medical Unit (UMAE) No. 71; the General Zone Hospital (HGZ) No. 18 and the Family Medicine Unit (UMF) No. 66 of Torreón as well as the UMF No. 43, the HGZ No. 51 and the UMF/UMAA No. 53 of Gómez Palace, among others.