On April 1, 2005 Santiago Atitlán celebrated the opening of Hospitalito Atitlán in Panabaj with marimba, speeches, tamales and a great deal of hope for the future. Five years later, the staff and medical volunteers joined together for a birthday party for the five year old Hospitalito.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the success of the Hospitalito.
A tradition of University of Pennsylvania’s Guatemalan Health Initiative spring break is the despidida, or the going away dinner at the Restaurante Pescador. This year, thanks to Jason Nagata a Penn student now at University of San Francisco, medical students from the USF teamed up with UPenn’s GHI program. Fourteen first year USF medical students were involved in a variety of projects. They conducted focus groups on Penn’s diabetic education video in Tz’utujil, and they investigated how to get the other Tz’utujil language health education films into the community. Several moved sand at the construction site and worked on translation and grant applications.
Dr. Brent Burket (right) spent four days at the Berhorst Clinic in Chimaltenango this week with the International Humanitarian Surgical Team. He went to learn from the teams anesthesiologists so that he will be able to fill in at Hospitalito by applying spinals when needed. Brent’s wife Dra. Jennifer Theone will leave Santiago Atitlán tomorrow morning at 4 AM to take Brent’s place in the trainings. Thanks so much to the IHST group for making these trainings possible.
Dr. Stephen Parker and his wife Ilysa a nurse, are both working at Hospitalito. “Dr. Este” took six months off from his work as an ER physician at Providence Medical Center in Anchorage Alaska to travel to South America and they are ending their tour with two months of volunteer work at HA.
Students from North Carolina State brought suitcases of donations to the Hospitalito and a lot of good ideas. They are members of Engineering World Health, an organization that evaluates medical equipment and processes in hospitals and clinics in developing countries, and offer help and suggestions. It was this group that located a digital file of the wiring diagram for our X-ray machine. They discussed problems that arise when operation manuals are only available in English. Thanks for everything!
Vanderbilt University students spent their spring break digging holes and moving dirt at the construction site this week. This is the second volunteer group of students brought by leaders Jennifer Fouse and Bill Crownover and Antonietta of CEDEPCA.
The 2010 University of Pennsylvania Guatemalan Health Initiative student group after a swim party in Cojolya.
Dra. Jill Edwards is a third year obstetrical resident at John Hopkins University volunteering at HA for one month. When asked bout her experience she said, “I appreciate most the grateful patients during prenatal clinic and when I have the occasion to meet them in the market.”
Dr. Chuc was very pleased to welcome Dr. Aldo Castenãda and Dr. Guillermo Herrera to the Hospitalito on Saturday. World-renowned pediatric heart surgeon, Dr. Casteñada directed the Boston Children’s Hospital for many years and before retirement founded UNICAR the first cardiac surgical center in Guatemala.
The staff at Hospitalito attends to many patients, but just incase you wondered how many…. HA has more than 15,000 patient files!
