Union leader Virginia Noriega Ríos led a group of health workers to the Baja California state Congress this week to demand legislators intervene in the long-stalled relocation of Mexicali’s Sanitary Jurisdiction office. The facility, which oversees public health programs across the city, currently operates out of a building in the former Ejido Coahuila area on Mexicali’s east side.
Noriega Ríos serves as secretary general of Section 42 of the National Union of Health Secretariat Workers (SNTSA), the branch that represents medical, administrative, and support staff in Mexicali, the Mexicali Valley, and San Felipe. She told lawmakers the union has raised the relocation issue for several years without a resolution from state or municipal authorities.
Years of Complaints Over Facility Conditions
The push to move the Sanitary Jurisdiction office is not new. In September 2025, Section 42 organized partial work stoppages and a blockade of Hospital Street in Mexicali to protest unsafe working conditions, assaults on staff, a shortage of medical supplies, and a lack of facility maintenance. At the time, Noriega Ríos said meetings were scheduled with the City of Mexicali, the state government, and the federal IMSS-Bienestar program.
Those talks appear to have produced no concrete progress. The renewed push at the state Congress is an escalation aimed at forcing legislative action where executive-branch negotiations have failed.
What the Sanitary Jurisdiction Does
Mexicali’s Sanitary Jurisdiction (Jurisdicción Sanitaria) is responsible for disease surveillance, vaccination campaigns, restaurant inspections, and other public health functions across the municipality. The office serves a metro area of roughly one million people, including the agricultural communities of the Mexicali Valley.
Workers say the current building is inadequate for the volume of services it must provide. The Ejido Coahuila location sits in a district that has seen little infrastructure investment, and staff have complained about safety concerns in the surrounding area.
No state legislators have publicly responded to the workers’ demands. Noriega Ríos said the union will continue pressing for action until a new site is secured and funded.
This story was first reported by Zeta Tijuana.