Dr. Ithan Peltan’s article on Hospitalito Atitlán’s disaster recovery was published recently in a medical journal. It has been almost five years since Tropical Storm Stan, but some of us will never forget.
http://pdm.medicine.wisc.edu/Volume_24/issue_6/peltan.pdf.
This is the third time that volunteers from Trinity Lutheran Church have worked on the construction site. Some of the same people were here when construction started in November 2008. In this photo, Dr. Chuc, Dr. Kevin Bjork, David Swager and group leader Tom Theits pose (and rest) from filling buckets of gravel. Tomorrow, surgeon Dr. Kevin will be volunteering in the operating room.
The largest section of the roof on the second floor was poured today. What teamwork. 50,000 pounds of cement went into this section, about a third used in the pour last June. The sun was not too strong and the rains stayed away… perfect for this task.
Nicole Young-Lin (far right) works for an organization called Saving Mothers and has been meeting with Santiago Atitlán’s traditional midwives. She provides hygienic birthing kits and works with the staff at Hospitalito Atitlán to do trainings in Tz’utujil on safe birthing techniques.
Rotarians from Salem Oregon arrived ready to work at the Hospitalito this week. This is the third work trip led by Phil Sperl who first arrived in Santiago Atitlán to help renovate the inpatient ward at the old hospital in Panabaj. The group of seven have planted trees, painted, sifted sand, cleaned and Architect David Holton tried his hand at chipping rocks Atiteco style. He was so impressed with the stonework on the new hospital that he had see how they did it. The workmen were impressed with his ability.
Nursing staff were given training today in how to operate new IV pumps that arrived from a Rotary International Grant from the East Salem Oregon Rotary and Club Rotario Guatemala Oeste. The pumps are a part of a very large Rotary grant… that is updating a lot of medical equipment…. AND these pumps speak Spanish!!!
Cold and flu season is arriving with the rains and today Hospitalito’s staff were vaccinated today for H1N1 by the Centro de Salud. Jacinto Garcia Chipir receives his vaccine when the Centro’s nursing staff arrived at HA.
Everyone who has ever volunteered at Hospitalito Atitlán knows Fredy Lacán. He started working more than five years ago when he helped install the electrical at the old hospital in Panabaj and since then he has continued as guardian.
Many may remember daughter Melissa, frequently a patient at HA. Melissa brought great luck to the family last week when she purchased a Q25 card for minutes on their cell phone. As soon as the number was entered, she received the message that she had won a pick-up! Family members joked with Melissa and told her it wasn’t true, but Claro, the phone company kept calling, and finally insisted that they go to the phone company office in Panajachel. Still doubtful, Mom and Melissa crossed the lake (Fredy was at work).
Sal and Maru Danial visited this week. They are the directors of the Samir D. Gergis Charitable Trust and made a generous donation towards the operational costs of Hospitalito Atitlán. Thank you for your confidence!
Anne Flosi arrived in November to volunteer as a nurse for six months. Her time in Santiago Atitlán is coming to an end, so we were happy she was able to join the HA staff at the beach. Anne provided medical care for Aklax whose scrape from a soccer injury (don’t play on concrete) was irritated by a fall in the surf.
Still celebrating the fifth anniversary of Hospitalito Atitlán the staff, some Board members and medical volunteers traveled to the Pacific coastal beach at Tecojate for the day. Aklax donated his van and everyone enjoyed the sun, surf and seafood.
José Reanda met with the manager of a nature reserve on the Atitlán volcano to collect donations from the hospital donation box placed in the hotel museum. Tarrales is an old coffee farm on the road from Santiago Atitlán to the Pacific Coast of Guatemala. The reserve offers tours to climb the volcano Atitlán, bird watching and ornamental plant tours. The owner has promised to donate plants from the nursery to landscape the new hospital.
For the past ten years the Marin Guatemala Mission Program, headquartered at St. Rita parish in Fairfax, California has sent containers to the Guatemala highlands containing vitamins, school supplies, shoes and clothing,and household goods for the people of the region. Bill Cuneo a member of Amigos Hospitalito Atitlán is part of this group. He is a dear friend who brings many good friends to visit. Today, HA received a truckload of hospital beds and medical supplies from our friends in Fairfax, CA.
Dr. Gabriel Flaxman is a family practice resident volunteer from The University of California in San Francisco and Dra. Amaia Pellejero is a community and family physician in Spain and will be in Santiago Atitlán at the Hospitalito for the months of April and May.
We are happy to welcome another British medical volunteer to Hospitalito Atitlán. Dra. Hege Mostad is a family practice physician at Westminster Hospital in London. Hege had planned to volunteer at HA in 2008, but an unfortunate ice skating accident left her in the hospital with a broken leg, instead of on her flight to Guatemala. We are happy she finally arrived.
Antonio has his work cut out for him organizing this donation to Hospitalito Atitlán from the International Humanitarian Surgical Team. The donation is inventoried and organized… color-coded boxes for Pre-OP, Post-OP, OB/Gyn, Exam, etc. IHST also donated an anesthesia machine and MUCH more. Thank you!!!
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!
After Fat Tuesday, after Ash Wednesday, the Friday afternoon Lenten processions begin to leave the Catholic church at 5 PM, with the last of six being on Good Friday.
Ohio Emergency room physician Dr. Judy Royer returned to the Hospitalito with her sister, son and anthropologist Lea Pellett. HA administrator presented a thank you gift to Judy. This time they brought nine suitcases of medicines and medical supplies. With José is Kathy, Judy and Jerry Pellett a NASA scientist who helped repair toliets and a laparoscopic camera.
Volunteer carpenter Tom Kruse of Eureka Springs Arkansas escaped the snow and cold to build cabinets for the Hospitalito. Tom taught Pedro and Ezequiel the work of laminating formica, so that they will be able to continue the work and install the cabinets when it comes time.
Bonnie O’Neill president of Amigos Hospitalito Atitlán visited the construction site today. In the photo are her husband David Adams, K’aslimaal secretary Karin Bergstresser, Bonnie, Lidia and Brian Oak from Ottawa Canada, and Jo Anne Davidson from New York.
