One of the most remote antecedents of care related to the health care of children in our country is the Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez (HIMFG for its acronym).
A story full of expectations
At the beginning of the 20th century, child health in Mexico City was carried out in the pediatric wards of the Hospital Juárez, the General Hospital, and the Foundling Children’s House (Casa Cuna). A history of the children’s hospital is the Dolores Sanz de Lavie hospital. These institutions did not yet have the capacity to care for patients in the capital.
In 1933 preparations began to create the new hospital. In December 1933 the plans for the new hospital were already available, created by the engineer Alberto Barocio. The 20,000 m² piece of land chosen for the construction was behind the General Hospital. Construction began on March 3, 1934.
In September 1942, President Manuel Ávila Camacho mentioned the creation of the Children’s Hospital of Mexico in his government report.
Federico Gómez Santos announced, prior to the inauguration, that he would leave private practice to dedicate himself solely to hospital care. The staff that began to work in the hospital was composed of Dr. Federico Gómez as director; four residents; 18 interns, made up of four women and 14 men; the administrator and the head nurse.
OFFICIAL DATE OF THE HOSPITAL WITH LEGAL PERSONALITY
By decree of the Congress of the Union on June 23, 1943, the hospital was considered a decentralized body with legal personality and its own assets, with the corporate purpose of carrying out three actions:
- Provide the necessary medical attention to children who require it.
- Strengthen the teaching of pediatrics through the appropriate means and channels.
- To initiate the scientific investigation of social medical problems of the Mexican childhood.
Relevant events
From April 16 to May 31, 2009, the Children’s Hospital of Mexico treated 16 cases of Influenzavirus A subtype H1N1, within the Pandemic of influenza A (H1N1), of which six were women and 10 men, out of 11 months to 3 years, with no reported deaths.5
In March 2020, the Coordinating Commission of National Institutes of Health and High Specialty Hospitals announced the hospitals in Mexico that would become Centers for the care of COVID-19, among which was the Children’s Hospital of Mexico
The Children’s Hospital of Mexico today
Today, the rooms and classrooms of the institution have trained more than 8 thousand doctors specializing in medical pediatrics, pediatric surgery and other pediatric specialties.
In the field of education, more than 300 books have been published, some of which are used as basic and specialty texts in various institutions in the country. It has 30 specialties, a core specialty, 10 postgraduate courses for specialist doctors, 37 training courses and 2 dental specialties.
In recent times, the hospital has two specialty courses, one in Pediatrics and one in Medical Genetics; It also takes 21 courses in other pediatric specialties, attached to the Single Plan for Medical Specialties of the UNAM Faculty of Medicine. High specialty courses are also taught.
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