Hospitalito Atitlán Blog

Dra. Lauren Outlaw, a fourth year resident from Indiana University Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Peter de Sosa, anesthesiology resident from San Francisco, in the ER with Dra. Louise. Peter came to the Hospitalito to visit his sister Dra. Maria de Sosa an internal medicine specialist who is volunteering for a month. He gives a thumbs up on the new machine!! 

The technicians from Jaeger medical supply were at HA on Friday to deliver and give training on the new anesthesia machine that was purchased thru a Rotary International matching grant written by Phil Sperl of Salem Oregon and Club Rotario Guatemala Oeste.

The RI grant also included funding for an electrical generator, IV pumps, fetal monitors, a photocopiar, and more. THANK YOU ROTARY!!!!

Three Starbucks executives arrived in Santiago Atitlán on November 10^th, and made their FOURTH donation to the construction of the new Hospitalito Atitlán.  Starbucks purchases coffee grown in the Santiago Atitlán area and their donations show their Social Responsibility to the community. The small steps towards support from Starbucks began with a meeting in 2005… just days before the disaster of tropical storm Stan.

After the disaster, when K’aslimaal purchased land to build the new hospital, they made their first donation of $10,000.

This week, on the first anniversary of the groundbreaking of the hospital building, they arrived with a check for $40,000, which will be matched by the Kendeda fund! This amount will nearly complete Phase II, so that HA can move from the temporary location to it’s own building with TWICE the space.

This brings the total of donations from Starbucks for the construction of the new hospital to $120,000.  (some donations were matched… thanks to Kendeda…. with the match the total is $210,000!!!!)

PLEASE! Enjoy another cup of coffee!

Dr. Greg Treston an ER physician from the Queensland Government Health Department and his friend Chris, a physical therapist, acupuncturist and alternative therapy specialist visited HA today to investigate possible volunteer opportunities. Dr. Greg has been thinking of HA for many years, and finally found time for a visit. We hope that when he returns he will be able to use the new ER to care for patients.

Frontier School of Midwifery is the oldest midwifery school in the US. They train professional nurses to be professional midwives., Kathryn Schrag has visited HA twice in the past, and this year she brought students.  In this photo is ER physician Louise Kenny with Frontier Supervisor Kathryn Schrag, and Frontier students Heather McLaughlin and NP Elizabeth Prata. They have been assisting on pre-natal clinic days and we hope that they get to help many families welcome the new baby.

It was the volunteers from Trinity Lutheran Church in Stillwater Minnesota that got the construction of the new hospital started (so to speak). In early November 2008, they assembled wheelbarrows and built a metal storage building for the construction materials. The Monday after they left the construction workers arrived and things really got started. Imagine their surprise when they returned a year later!

They brought gloves and donations of wire nuts to work with the local electrician to pull electrical cable in the new building. In these fotos are group leader Tom Theits with Mark Weber on the scaffolding. Note the symbols marked by the electrician. They are installing cables for both a solar electric system and for the grid ($$).

Loren Carver and Jennie Geiger are pulling cables in the operating room. It was Jennies first trip to volunteer with the Hospitalito. We expect to see more of the Trinity group return in the future. Thank you Tom for making this happen.