Operation Heal Honduras is the culmination of 9 years of medical mission trips. I tagged along on a trip with Rita Morgan, CRNA, to Choluteca, Honduras in 2007. Since then we have been returning annually to different locations in Honduras, and the group has grown from 8 to 22-24.
What started as a small surgical team has blossomed into a multidisciplinary group, with Family Medicine going to rural villages, and a hospital team with General and Trauma Surgery, Orthopedics, and Ob/Gyn. In addition to the 5 attending physicians, there are 5 residents-in-training, 3 CRNAs and multiple RNs and translators. Honduras is one of the most impoverished countries in the Western Hemisphere and basic health care is absent for many. While they do have hospitals and operating rooms of varying quality and cleanliness, obtaining the disposable items needed to perform operations is difficult or impossible due to lack of money. So we bring sterile gowns, gloves, suture, gauze, mesh, casting material, ACE wraps, laparoscopic ports, drapes, etc, as well as bringing approximately $2,000 worth of medications.. Virtually all of our supplies are donated by our generous vendors who supply Abington Health. Most of the team works at Abington Health or local area hospitals.
In addition to helping those patients we see while we are there, we are also able to leave supplies so that the doctors and nurses there can continue to work after we leave.
This will be our third year staying in the Andrew Clinic in El Castano, and they are wonderful hosts. If you want to find it, its not the El Castano you’d find on Google. Look for El Progreso and then its a 20 minute drive north. While the medical teams go out to the villages, the hospital team will be at Hospital El Progresso, and we will reconvene at Andrew Clinic each night. This is a true team effort, and a true joy, and we look forward to sharing it with you! Thanks for following along!
- Seth
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