Patients and Families Report Crisis, Thefts in Cancún Hospitals

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Patients and their families are reporting a crisis of neglect, thefts, and critical shortages at public hospitals in Cancún, with one German national spending over a year in an emergency room.

Complaints of medical negligence, lack of supplies, and alleged thefts are mounting at the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) Region 510 and Cancún’s Hospital General. Patients and relatives describe institutional abandonment and undignified conditions.

At Hospital General, German citizen Klaus Dieter Hoffmann has remained in the emergency area for more than a year. According to other patients, Hoffmann has requested intervention from his country’s consulate after staff allegedly took his personal documents. They also reported that due to hospital overcrowding, he is sometimes forced to stay on the floor because of bed shortages.

At IMSS Hospital General de Zona number 18 in Cancún, relatives of Felipe Azcorra said he was transferred from Chetumal on February 18 for chronic sinusitis, due to a lack of ear, nose, and throat specialists in the capital. However, they allege that since his admission, staff have told them there is no material to perform the required procedure, while the patient suffers recurrent nosebleeds.

“He has been bleeding and we fear for his life,” said his sister, Laura Azcorra Méndez. She recounted that after insisting on care, a supervisor identified as Cristian reprimanded the medical staff; later, they placed a nasal tube that worsened the bleeding to the point where he cannot eat or drink normally.

At Hospital General, allegations go beyond medication shortages. Relatives report thefts of belongings inside the facility. María del Carmen Uicab Pech, who is accompanying her hospitalized mother, said her cellphone and a bag of clothes disappeared. “No one takes responsibility; they tell us they don’t know anything,” she denounced.

Other users directly accused the hospital’s head of security of allegedly taking belongings from admitted patients. “They keep clothes, shoes, wallets, and even costume jewelry,” they claimed. José Manuel Tun Canul, a relative of another patient, supported these complaints: “It’s something discussed among those of us who have family here, but no one investigates.”

The complaints reveal a critical pattern: shortages of specialists, lack of medical materials, emergency room overcrowding, and absence of mechanisms to protect patients’ belongings. Hospital authorities have not yet issued a detailed public stance on these cases.

Meanwhile, Felipe Azcorra’s family improvises methods to contain his bleeding amid treatment delays. “We’re not asking for privileges; we’re asking for basic care and respect,” his sister summarized. The situation exposes a structural crisis in Cancún’s public hospital care that goes beyond isolated incidents.