On May 16, 1961, the then President Adolfo López Mateos inaugurated the Hospital Center “November 20”.
A walk through the history of the National Medical Center “November 20”
On November 20 it was conceived as the center of a public hospital network. With 6 area hospitals in Mexico City and 48 clinics in its different delegations. The entire network was built in the 1960s and most of its facilities continue to operate.
The hospital infrastructure of the ISSSTE began with the acquisition of a building that was to be the Fajer Hospital. By 1961 it was already converted into the 20 de Noviembre Hospital Center. When it opened, the hospital had 600 beds, modern equipment, a nursery, and a four-level parking lot.
Who was it designed by?
The building was designed by the architects Enrique and Agustín Landa Verdugo, who adapted a construction in black work. Purchased by the government from a private individual, for the needs of the new hospital. In addition to the creation of hospitals, the Civil and Retirement Pensions Directorate (currently ISSSTE). He entrusted the architect Mario Pani with the construction of the Presidente Alemán Urban Center.
This housing center has witnessed the development of the National Medical Center. According to the architecture critic Miquel Adria, the hospital is one of the 25 most significant works of Mexican architecture in the 20th century.
Here the first epilepsy radiosurgery was performed in Mexico at the hospital
As a highly specialized Medical Unit, in 1994 the hospital was remodeled and its name was changed from Centro Hospitalario 20 de Noviembre to Centro Médico Nacional 20 de Noviembre. In 2005, the first epilepsy radiosurgery was performed in Mexico at the hospital. On the other hand, in 2015 with the help of the Da Vinci robot, the first robotic surgery was performed at the National Medical Center November 20.
As of the last 12 months, the positioning of “November 20” has been achieved in the area of Transplants, Minimally Invasive Surgery, Robotic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine.
Likewise, recently in the field of Gynecology the first Gynecological Urology Clinic in the country has been created in the ISSSTE, in addition to the reopening with great success of the Reproductive Biology service, and very soon the launch of Neuroradiosurgery with linear accelerator.
His main achievements
However, the Medical Center has not only grown in the healthcare area, but also in teaching and research, as an example is the signing of the next collaboration agreement with the Pasteur Institute of France; the creation of new Subspecialties and Postgraduate courses for the training of Human Resources in Health and the increase in the number of patent registrations.
Among its main achievements we can mention:
- The first heart transplant in 1989, performed by Dr. Abel Archundia.
- In 1995, the establishment of the ISSSTE Research Unit in the National Medical Center “November 20” was achieved.
- As of the year 2010, the personnel dedicated to research has increased; currently counting on a total of 9 Researchers who hold the distinction of Researcher Level 1 of the SNI of CONACYT.
The research areas currently being carried out at ISSSTE focus on the study of genomic medicine, biomedical research and research in regenerative medicine.
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