Hospital infrastructure and medical staff of the public health system in Mexico in face of COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to examine the health care capacity of the public health system in Mexico in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the parameters considered by the World Health Organization (WHO), the availability of hospital beds, as well as medical and nursing staff is explored. Likewise, a comparative analysis of the resources of the Secretaría de Salud (SSA) is carried out in order to observe the changes in hospital reconversion in response to the pandemic. The results point to the gaps in the infrastructure of public medical services between states, and health care capacity below the parameters suggested by the WHO. A situation that in the context of a COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates pre-existing inequalities and additional representations of coverage for the country's public health system.