Honduras Doctors Enter Fifth Week of Protest as Government Says 95% Paid
HONDURAS · HEALTH
Key Facts
- —The country Honduras, a Central American nation of about 11 million people, where most public hospitals are run by the health ministry, known as Sesal.
- —The background Since Monday 7 September, Honduras doctors in the Colegio Médico de Honduras, their professional college, have suspended outpatient clinics over unpaid salaries.
- —Why now The college called a new national assembly for Monday 5 October, a fifth straight week, though the ministry says 95% are paid.
- —What happened Social security doctors agreed on Saturday 3 October to stop and return on 12 October. Health ministry hospitals remain affected.
- —The numbers By the ministry’s count, 6,480 of 6,850 doctors are paid and 370 are waiting. The college says at least 840 are still owed.
- —What it means for you Emergency rooms stay open, but routine appointments in public hospitals are scarce this week, also because of a national holiday.
- —Still open When the college will vote to end the action. Its demands go beyond back pay, to contracts, dismissals and the 2026 budget.
Honduras doctors in public hospitals began a fifth straight week of protest on Monday 5 October, keeping many outpatient clinics closed. The health ministry says 95% of the doctors on its payroll are now up to date with their pay.
The Colegio Médico de Honduras (CMH), the professional college every practising doctor must join, says that is not enough. It counts at least 840 colleagues still owed months of salary, and its demands go well beyond back pay.
A New Call to Assemble
The college’s board called a new national extraordinary assembly for Monday, running from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm at workplaces. El Mundo, a Tegucigalpa daily, reported that the call opens the fifth consecutive week of action.
Honduras doctors call these gatherings asambleas informativas, or informational assemblies, rather than a strike. They began on Monday 7 September and had run for 26 consecutive days by Friday 2 October, El Heraldo reported.
The call was signed by Rosa María Duarte Flores, the college’s secretary for minutes and correspondence, Once Noticias reported. It orders that emergency services and critical areas stay staffed throughout.
The government’s payment figure was first set out last week: Honduras doctors strike enters fourth week (1 October 2026). How the action began is set out in Honduras doctors’ protest hits third week (23 September 2026).
What the 95% Figure Measures
The 95% figure comes from José Miguel Castillo, the deputy health minister for projects and investment. He asked the college to suspend its assemblies, El Mundo reported.
The figure counts doctors, not money. According to the ministry’s breakdown, 6,480 of the 6,850 doctors on its payroll have been paid, or 94.6%.
All 5,388 permanent doctors are up to date, the ministry says. Among 323 interim doctors, 312 have been paid and 11 are still waiting.
The largest gap is among 1,139 doctors on contracts or going through re-hiring, El Heraldo reported. Of those, 780 have been paid and 359 have not, leaving 370 doctors pending in all.
What the Doctors Say Is Still Missing
The college says at least 840 Honduras doctors have gone three months without pay, El Heraldo reported on Sunday 4 October. Some are owed as many as nine months.
College leaders say the assemblies will continue until the last doctor with outstanding pay is paid, La Prensa reported. For many Honduras doctors, however, the dispute is about more than salary arrears.
The demands include an end to dismissals, reinstatement of dismissed doctors and signed contracts for July to December. Doctors also want the 2026 pay review, an inflation adjustment and higher pay for resident doctors in training.
They ask that 12% of the national budget go to public health. Other points include 21 days of so-called prophylactic leave, an extra rest entitlement for health workers, and bonuses for retired doctors.
The college also wants contracts signed with the gestores, the outside bodies that run some local health networks. It wants those decentralised networks brought back under central control.
Which Services Are Affected
On Friday 2 October, deputy health minister Eduardo Midence said 27,303 patients in ministry facilities had appointments postponed. He also cited a backlog of more than 3,000 surgeries.
The ministry counts 3,092 children who missed paediatric care and 2,979 women who missed gynaecology and obstetrics appointments. Internal medicine, surgery, trauma and orthopaedics, specialist clinics and ophthalmology are also hit.
At Hospital Escuela, the capital’s main teaching hospital, director Darío Zúñiga said more than 12,800 outpatients went without care in 24 days. El Mundo and Proceso Digital both carried the figure.
Blanca Munguía of the Association for a More Just Society (ASJ), a civic group, spoke of “terrible damage” to Hondurans. She said consultations are not given and surgeries are halted.
Social Security Doctors Step Back
One group has stood down. On Saturday 3 October, the Instituto Hondureño de Seguridad Social (IHSS) said the assemblies in its clinics would end.
The IHSS, the social security fund with its own hospitals for insured workers, agreed this with its doctors’ association, El Heraldo reported. All IHSS units are to resume normal work on Monday 12 October, after the holiday.
IHSS executive director Víctor Martínez told El Heraldo the institute owes no salary to any doctor. Its doctors had joined the action in solidarity with colleagues in ministry hospitals, La Prensa reported.
A college representative, Douglas Carranza, agreed that pay was not the issue at the IHSS. He said its doctors receive 18 days of prophylactic leave instead of the 21 they are due.
Martínez said more than 115,000 IHSS appointments had gone unattended. He stressed that the figure is cumulative and not caused by the assemblies alone.
The Government’s Position
The ministry argues that the remaining cases are administrative. Most are contract doctors whose re-hiring paperwork is still in process, according to its letter reported by TU NOTA.
“Patients need care,” Midence said on Friday, adding that dialogue must guarantee continuous services. He urged the college board to put patients at the centre of its decisions.
Behind every postponed appointment, he added, is a person who needs care and a family waiting for an answer.
What It Means for Patients This Week
The fifth week coincides with the Semana Morazánica, a national holiday week for public employees from Monday 5 to Friday 9 October. El Mundo noted that much of the public hospital system has the week off.
The health ministry says emergency and essential services remain open 24 hours a day. Hospital Escuela moved outpatient appointments set for 7 to 9 October into last week, and its emergency room stays open.
Hospital Mario Catarino Rivas in San Pedro Sula, the country’s second city, is treating emergencies only until Monday 12 October. The IHSS keeps emergency, inpatient and haemodialysis services running through the holiday.
Foreign residents with a routine need should call ahead, while private clinics are not part of this public payroll dispute. The Rio Times guide to healthcare in Honduras for expats sets out the options.
What Comes Next
The college has announced no date for a vote to end the action. Its leaders say the assemblies continue until every doctor is paid.
The real test comes on Monday 12 October, when ministry outpatient clinics would normally reopen after the holiday. Social security clinics have already pledged to return that day.
Whether Honduras doctors in ministry hospitals follow depends on how fast the last 370 files, or the college’s larger list, are settled.
None of this means Honduran hospitals are closed, since emergency care continues throughout. The 95% figure counts doctors paid, and the college disputes it.
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Are public hospitals in Honduras closed?
No. Honduras doctors keep emergency rooms and critical care areas staffed under the college’s own rules. Routine outpatient clinics and planned surgery are the services most affected.
Why are Honduras doctors still protesting if 95% are paid?
The college disputes the ministry’s count and says at least 840 doctors are still owed. It also wants contracts, reinstatements, pay adjustments and a bigger health budget.
When will services return to normal?
Social security (IHSS) clinics plan to resume normal work on Monday 12 October. Health ministry clinics depend on the college ending its assemblies, which it has not yet scheduled.
What should a foreign visitor or resident do?
Call the hospital before travelling for a routine appointment, and go straight to an emergency room for urgent care. Private hospitals are not part of the public payroll dispute.
Sources: El Mundo (Honduras), fifth week of assemblies, 4 October 2026; Proceso Digital, fifth week despite payments, 4 October 2026; Once Noticias, CMH assembly call, 4 October 2026; El Heraldo, 27,303 appointments postponed, 2 October 2026; El Heraldo, IHSS doctors end assemblies, 3 October 2026; El Heraldo, 115,000 IHSS appointments, 3 October 2026; El Heraldo, assemblies continue in hospitals, 4 October 2026; El Heraldo, hospitals during Semana Morazánica, 4 October 2026; La Prensa, surgical backlog and IHSS return, 4 October 2026; La Prensa, Semana Morazánica dates, 30 September 2026; TU NOTA, health ministry payment letter, 29 September 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief