Honduras Medical Dispute Explained, Doctors Versus Business
HONDURAS · HEALTH
Key Facts
- —The country Honduras is a Central American republic whose public hospitals are run by the Health Secretariat, headed since January by President Nasry Asfura himself.
- —What happened On Monday, 12 October, Cohep executive director Armando Urtecho called the leaders of the doctors’ college a “cartel” and urged sanctions.
- —The business side Cohep, the Honduran Private Enterprise Council, was founded in 1967 and groups 70 business organisations from every sector.
- —The doctors’ side The Colegio Médico de Honduras, founded in 1962, regulates and disciplines doctors, and every salaried medical post requires its membership.
- —The pay law A 1985 law, the Statute of the Employed Doctor, says institutions must pay doctors’ monthly salaries by the 20th.
- —What it means for you Emergency rooms stay open, but about 20,000 outpatients at Hospital Escuela alone have been affected, its director says.
- —Still open The protest assemblies began on 7 September, and no date has been set to end them.
The Honduras medical dispute turned personal on Monday, 12 October, when a top business leader called the leaders of the doctors’ college a “cartel.” Outpatient clinics in public hospitals have been largely shut since 7 September, as doctors protest over unpaid salaries.
For Americans with family in Honduras, and for visitors who fall ill, it means long waits for routine care while emergency rooms stay open. Urtecho’s remarks and the doctors’ reply are covered in a separate report.
What Cohep Is and Who Speaks for It
Cohep, the Honduran Private Enterprise Council, is a non-profit body founded in 1967. It groups 70 organisations from all productive sectors, its website says.
It calls itself the technical and political arm of Honduran business. Its stated principles include a balanced public budget and an end to state intervention in productive activity.
Its president, Anabel Gallardo, was re-elected unanimously in March, the council announced. Armando Urtecho, who made Monday’s remark, is its executive director.
What the Colegio Médico Controls
The Colegio Médico de Honduras (CMH) was founded on 27 October 1962, when two doctors’ groups merged, its official history says. Its founding law, Decree No. 94, was published in the official gazette on 24 November 1964.
Honduras makes membership of professional colleges compulsory, and the CMH traces its legal basis to that constitutional rule. No doctor may start practising, even in the social service, without registering with it.
Its founding law lets the college regulate the practice of medicine, discipline members and represent them before officials. It also lets the college represent the profession before the board of the Honduran Social Security Institute (IHSS), the state health insurer.
Members elect the leadership by direct, secret ballot. Its president for 2024 to 2026 is Samuel Francisco Santos Fuentes, vice-president from 2018 to 2024, the college’s website shows.
What the 1985 Doctors’ Pay Law Says
Congress passed the Statute of the Employed Doctor unanimously in October 1985 and reformed it in 1997, according to the CMH. The college publishes the text online.
It covers every doctor registered with the college, whether employed by the state or by a private employer.
Any doctor’s job requires CMH registration and paid-up dues. The law sets a six-hour ordinary working day and minimum salaries.
Since the 1997 reform, employers must agree pay scales with the CMH.
In that text, institutions must pay monthly salaries by the 20th of each month, or within five days if the delay is not their fault. Doctors must also receive full pay from their first day, even while their appointment is still being processed.
Those clauses bear directly on the Honduras medical dispute, which began over unpaid salaries.
The parties to a dispute may ask the CMH to mediate. Problems in applying the law can also go to the Civil Service directorate or the Labour Secretariat.
How the Honduras Medical Dispute Unfolded
Doctors call their protest asambleas informativas, or informational assemblies, rather than a strike. Care is concentrated in emergency departments, El Heraldo reported.
The CMH’s demands now go well beyond back pay, El Heraldo and TuNota reported. They include rehiring dismissed doctors, salary adjustments, contracts and a bigger health budget.
The government says 95% of the back pay owed to doctors has been settled. El Heraldo quoted deputy health minister José Miguel Castillo, and El Mundo quoted communications minister Héctor Ordóñez.
Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa, the country’s main hospital, says about 20,000 outpatients have been affected. Elective surgery runs at 50% to 60% of normal capacity, director Darío Zúñiga said, according to El Heraldo and El Mundo.
An earlier report explains how the government counts its 95% figure.
Why Business Wants Sanctions
Urtecho argues that the Labour Code treats health care as an essential service. He asked Labour Minister Fernando Puerto to draw up formal infraction records against doctors who keep care suspended, El Mundo reported.
He said the doctors hurt “the ordinary citizen,” not the government or business, El Heraldo and its sister paper La Prensa quoted him. He also argued that applying labour rules does not require a health minister, El Mundo reported.
Honduras has no separate health minister. Asfura took the portfolio himself in January, backed by his three vice-presidents, EFE and Prensa Latina reported at the time.
The Honduras medical dispute therefore lands directly on the president’s desk.
What It Means for You
For US visitors, emergency rooms in public hospitals remain open, but routine appointments are hard to get. Patients with chronic conditions at Hospital Escuela still receive their prescriptions, its director said.
The US State Department strongly recommends supplemental insurance that covers medical evacuation, and warns that Medicare does not apply overseas. Healthcare in Honduras for expats sets out costs, hospitals and cover options.
For investors, the Honduras medical dispute shows the main employers’ lobby pressing the state to treat public health as an essential service. Urtecho has asked the Labour Ministry, not the Health Secretariat, to make the next move.
What Is Not Known
It is not known whether the Labour Ministry will act on Urtecho’s request, or which rules it would apply. It is also unclear whether essential-service rules cover protests that doctors frame as assemblies rather than a strike.
The CMH has given no end date, so the Honduras medical dispute has no clear finish line. Its demands now reach well beyond back pay, to contracts, hiring and the health budget.
More on this story: Honduras Doctors' 5-Week Protest Draws Cartel Label.
More: Honduras news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Cohep in Honduras?
Cohep is the Honduran Private Enterprise Council, a non-profit founded in 1967 that groups 70 business organisations. Its executive director, Armando Urtecho, called the doctors’ leadership a “cartel” on 12 October.
Do doctors in Honduras have to join the Colegio Médico?
Yes. Membership of professional colleges is compulsory in Honduras, and the 1985 Statute of the Employed Doctor requires CMH registration for any salaried doctor’s post.
What is behind the Honduras medical dispute?
Doctors began informational assemblies on 7 September over unpaid salaries. Their demands now include rehiring dismissed colleagues, pay adjustments, new hiring and a better health system.
Are hospitals in Honduras open for visitors?
Emergency rooms in public hospitals remain open during the Honduras medical dispute. Outpatient clinics are disrupted, and the US State Department recommends supplemental insurance that covers medical evacuation.
Sources: Cohep, Quiénes somos, accessed 13 October 2026; Cohep, re-election of Anabel Gallardo, 6 March 2026; Colegio Médico de Honduras, Historia, accessed 13 October 2026; Colegio Médico de Honduras, Junta Directiva, accessed 13 October 2026; Ley del Estatuto del Médico Empleado (CMH compendium), October 1985; Ley Orgánica del Colegio Médico de Honduras (CMH compendium), 1964; Reformas a la Ley del Estatuto del Médico Empleado, Decree 161-97 (CMH compendium), October 1997; El Heraldo, 12 October 2026; La Prensa, 12 October 2026; El Mundo, 12 October 2026; El Heraldo, Hospital Escuela, 12 October 2026; El Heraldo, 35 days of assemblies, 12 October 2026; El Mundo, government payments, 13 October 2026; TuNota, 5 October 2026; EFE via Swissinfo, 28 January 2026; Prensa Latina, 28 January 2026; US Department of State, Honduras country information, accessed 13 October 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