Baja California Sur Governor Víctor Manuel Castro Cosío inaugurated a new hemodialysis unit at the ISSSTE clinic in Cabo San Lucas on April 8, ending years of long-distance travel for kidney patients in Los Cabos. The unit at the Clínica Hospital “Cabo San Lucas,” run by the Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado (ISSSTE), is now operational and accepting patients.
ISSSTE is the federal health system covering government employees and their dependents. The Cabo San Lucas clinic serves roughly 40,000 beneficiaries in the Los Cabos municipality. Until now, those requiring hemodialysis had to travel approximately 150 kilometers north to La Paz, the state capital, often waiting months to receive care.
Relief for Kidney Patients in Los Cabos
Governor Castro Cosío said the unit would “give life” to patients and bring relief to their families. The new facility is designed to provide specialized, ongoing treatment for chronic kidney disease, which requires regular dialysis sessions, typically three times per week.
The opening is part of a broader push by ISSSTE, under national director general Martí Batres Guadarrama, to strengthen specialized medical services in Baja California Sur. ISSSTE delegate Juan Alberto Ruiz Suárez said the expansion aligns with the federal government’s position, under President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, that health care is a fundamental right.
What This Means for Los Cabos Healthcare
The hemodialysis unit addresses a critical gap in Los Cabos, where population growth has outpaced medical infrastructure for years. Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo have seen rapid expansion driven by tourism and construction, but specialty care has lagged behind. Patients needing dialysis previously faced a roughly two-hour drive to La Paz each way, a burden that fell hardest on elderly patients and their caregivers.
The service is available to ISSSTE beneficiaries through standard institutional referral procedures. The unit is already in operation at the clinic in Cabo San Lucas.
This story was first reported by the Baja California Sur state government and El Sudcaliforniano.