[The costs of operating psychiatric hospitals of the Ministry of Health in the Federal District]. / Costos de operación de hospitales psiquiátricos de la Secretaría de Salud en el Distrito Federal.

The hospitals of the Ministry of Health in Mexico City, particularly psychiatric hospitals, have been confronting operational problems due to a scarce budget and lack of informational on their operation and costs. The present study intends to begin to solve some of those problems through an initial diagnosis. A form was designed for data harvesting, which enables to sort costs by class (direct and indirect). This information was projected in a worksheet and analyzed by service, day-bed and unity as a whole. The results show an inequitable distribution of the budget among hospitals.