Ihss

Ten Honduran children with congenital heart defects will receive surgery at the Regional Hospital of the North through a pediatric cardiovascular brigade organized with support from international organizations and Salvadoran specialists.

The IHSS Regional Hospital in San Pedro Sula received specialized medical supplies and equipment from Gift of Life International for a pediatric open-heart surgery brigade scheduled for October 19–24, benefiting both insured and uninsured children.

The IHSS will restart nationwide medical consultations on October 12 after doctors agreed to return following five weeks of informational assemblies, following a directive board's recognition of a 2025 agreement that extends annual vacation time from 18 to 21 days.

At least 200 interim and 500 contract physicians at the Honduran Social Security Institute (IHSS) have not received payment, according to the association's president Ricardo Rodas.

Honduras's social-security institute (IHSS) announced it will fully resume health services and administrative work on October 12 after concluding informational assemblies by the medical college at its clinics and hospitals nationwide.

The Honduran Social Security Institute will close outpatient clinics nationwide from October 5–9 for Morazán Week, but emergency departments at specialty and northern regional hospitals and dialysis units will remain open with rotating staff.

Physician assemblies at Honduras's public-health institute have suspended outpatient consultations and elective surgeries for nearly a month, costing over L400 million (about $16 million), while doctors press demands for wage adjustments and contract improvements.

Congressman Rashid Mejía introduced a proposal to adjust disability, old-age, and survivor pensions under the Social Security Institute (IHSS) in line with inflation, addressing what he called unfair contribution gaps across income levels.

Pharmacies at the Social Security's Regional Hospital of the North will close temporarily from September 21 to 25 for inventory work, affecting the outpatient, oncology, hospital, and emergency pharmacies.

The IHSS director said the institute has no unpaid salary debts to its physicians and called a doctors' work stoppage unjustified, asserting they are striking in solidarity with health workers at other institutions that do have payment arrears.

Ricardo Rodas, president of the IHSS doctors' association, says informational assemblies will continue until the Social Security Institute pays outstanding wages owed to temporary staff and approximately 400 physicians.

Video of IHSS security guards removing a patient from the waiting room at San Pedro Sula's Regional Hospital of the North sparked social-media outrage; hospital officials say the man was disrupting other patients and refusing to leave after multiple warnings.

A viral video captured security guards at the San Pedro Sula IHSS pushing a patient out of the emergency-room waiting area and kicking him; hospital authorities said he had placed his feet on seating and refused guards' orders to stop.

Honduras's social-security institute (IHSS) will operate only its emergency and hemodialysis units on September 15, Honduras's Independence Day, while all other services remain closed for the national holiday.

Honduran doctors launched informational assemblies and suspended outpatient visits and elective surgeries at the IHSS, alleging the government broke wage agreements.

The Social Security Institute has launched a WhatsApp-based appointment system for 39 medical specialties at hospitals in San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, allowing members to book without visiting clinics in person.

A former IHSS hospital manager criticized the government's L10 million in payments to private hospitals for 145 surgical procedures, arguing that spending on private care cannot substitute for strengthening the weak public health system through better staffing, resources, and administration.

Social Security beneficiaries in Tegucigalpa reported arriving before dawn for two consecutive days to seek medical appointments, finding clinic gates locked and complaining of months-long delays and medication shortages.

Honduras's social security institute (IHSS) is letting Tegucigalpa patients book doctor appointments via WhatsApp by sending ID photos and medical referrals, eliminating in-person queues.

Social Security patients are spending L3,000–L6,000 monthly (about $120–$240) out of pocket for medications and supplies due to treatment delays, with chronic and cancer patients most severely affected by administrative backlogs and supply shortages.

Patients covered by Honduras's social security system are urging authorities to expand coverage and improve service quality, citing the near-impossibility of obtaining specialist appointments.

Honduras's social-security hospital faces a shortage of cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, oncologists, and other critical specialists, a problem compounded by fiscal restrictions that cap spending despite willingness to hire more doctors.

Three cardiologists have quit Honduras's public health institute (IHSS) citing low wages and lack of permanent appointments, leaving the system with only one cardiologist when officials say five to seven are needed in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula alone.

The president of the IHSS doctors' association says the social-security institute faces a severe crisis driven by government debt exceeding 30 billion lempiras (about $1.2 billion) and another 6 billion lempiras from other sectors, compounded by overcrowding, physician shortages, and no new buildings in over 30 years.

The president of the IHSS physicians' association reports that Honduras's main public hospital remains in severe decay despite a three-month emergency decree, with persistent shortages of surgeons, staff, medicines, and functioning laundry services.

A Liberal congressman introduced legislation to ensure workers applying for IHSS retirement benefits maintain medical coverage during the often-months-long processing period, arguing that some Hondurans risk death without treatment during the transition.

Jesús Alexis Maradiaga, a four-year-old from Santa Cruz de Yojoa who fell from a bus on May 21 and spent weeks in intensive care after two emergency surgeries, was discharged from IHSS on June 19; his grandfather's photo of prayer at the hospital's pediatric ICU had gone viral, drawing nationwide prayers for the child's recovery.

Honduras's Social Security Institute has begun a program to reduce its surgical waiting list, with 143 procedures already completed in San Pedro Sula, where more than 3,000 patients await surgery; the institute says it is cleaning up outdated records and contracting private medical firms to expand capacity.

Cancer patients at the Honduran Social Security Institute report a three-month shortage of carboplatin, an essential chemotherapy drug, forcing them to buy vials costing over L3,000 (about $120) out of pocket or forgo complete treatment.

Five of ten children with congenital heart disease have been successfully operated on during a pediatric cardiovascular surgery brigade at the IHSS hospital in San Pedro Sula.