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First Annual Surgery Campaign Completed
In the heat of a Bolivian summer, a surgical team from the Jager Family Foundation (JFF) generously came down to Bolivia to operate on CMHP patients and other locals. The purposes of the surgery campaign were to provide surgical services to the patient population of CMHP, thus collaborating in the improvement of health of underserved persons in rural Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and to initiate a sustainable surgery campaign project. The campaign was held at Hospital San Jose de Obrero in Portachuelo (HSJO), a hospital run by a group of dynamic Spanish nurses and a Bolivian surgeon, Dr. Oscar Azaeda. In the 5 days of operations, there were a total of 20 surgeries performed including removal of hernias, ganglion cyst, circumcision, breast mass excision, and cholecytectomy. It was inspiring to see the never-tiring surgical campaign team perform up to 5 surgeries in one day with great enthusiasm. It was also wonderful to watch patients sending loved ones in for surgical consultation, including a man from Santa Rosa who brought in three others suffering hernias such as himself. Another story that put a smile on everyone’s face was the mother and her 2 sons who all had herniorrhaphies on the same day. The Surgery Campaign Team included JFF and CMHP personnel, as well as the collaboration of HSJO staff. The dedicated surgical team included surgeons Dr. Rama Jager and Dr. Jon Jansen, anesthesiologist Dr. Ervin Schlabach, OR circulator and JFF coordinator Pat Jager, surgical assistant/JFF clinical coordinator Lisa Jager, surgical tech Juan Pablo Villarroel, and surgical assistant Dr. Adam Trotta. Outside the OR, Guindalina Vallejos served as the recovery nurse, Nico Vargas continued being everyone’s favorite chef, and CMHP administrative coordinator Lavinia Sinitean also worked as a translator. There was even a special visit by CMHP’s favorite Santa Cruz surgeon Dr. Oscar Espinoza. And as always, CMHP Medical Director, Dr. Douglas Villarroel, worked his contacts to make it all possible. The e Surgery Campaign Team, guided by Bolivia’s own Juan Pablo Villarroel (Juanito), also visited Palacios and organized competitions and giveaways for gifts brought by Drs. Schlabach and Jansen. The favorite gifts were colored soccer balls, and the children grouped together in families and played games instantly when they received them. The Daniels Hamant Foundation is very thankful for the generous collaboration of the Jager Family Foundation and is excited to see the next campaign!
Muchas gracias -- Silent Fiesta a Big Success
Our Annual Fiesta and Silent Auction, held on December 6, 2009, was a smashing success! Over 60 people attended and we all had a great time. There were lots of familiar faces and some new ones, including two prior Clinic Coordinators, Ethan Molitch-Hou and Lavinia Sinitean.
The Fiesta was held in the Party Room at 512 N. McClurg Court in Chicago and we thank Lisa Jager for helping to arrange this party in her building. Lisa, Lavinia Sinitean, and Ethan Molitch-Hou were of great help in setting up the room and the refreshments. Empanadas from Lito’s Empanadas were plentiful and delicious.
138 items in the Silent Auction were sold. The overall amount raised from the Silent Auction and the raffle was $4,171. A highly successful event! We wish to thank Brian Wohlwend who set up the Auction on the website so that people could bid before and after the actual Silent Auction held at the Fiesta. The Grand Prize of the Raffle was a FlashDrive Videocamcorder, won by Mariana Johnson, a research nurse at Northwestern.
We’re starting to make plans for the next Fiesta. Should we still have it before Christmas, so that people can buy Christmas presents then? Should it be downtown? Maybe out in the ‘burbs? Let us know.
 About Our Organization…
Centro Medico Humberto Parra and the Daniels Hamant Foundation 501(c)(3) strive to bring first-rate, free medical care, medication, and health education to the people in Bolivia who would be otherwise unable to afford it.
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April 2010
Centro Medico Noticias
>> Patient Funding Story: Shirley
Shirley, a 17 year old girl from Buena Vista, presented to the clinic with a progressive inability to exercise, getting short of breath with really minimal activity. Clinic doctors found her to have a loud heart murmur and Dr. Barrientos, the cardiovascular surgeon who kindly sees many of our patients, found her to have a heart valve defect with heart enlargement and in need of a valve replacement. The procedure, however, was very expensive (about $10,500), which left the Lijerons wondering how this surgery would be completed. Our coordinators, Courtney Morso and John Ellis, soon found a way. With the help of a local foundation, Davosan, the aid of Courtney’s mother back home in Chicago who soon raised over $4,600 from family and friends, and the additional funds John’s family donated turned this previously unattainable surgery into a reality. Surgery is now scheduled for March, 2010, and Shirley and her family are so excited about her future return to health!
>> January Visit and Haiti
Susan Hou and Mark Molitch came down to the clinic for a week in January, after a hiatus of 6 months. They found the clinic to be in the very capable hands of Courtney Morso and John Ellis, with things running very smoothly. Two Loyola Residents, Matt Siegel and Mark Landmeier were there, along with a 4th year medical student from the University of Colorado, Jennifer Fier, and two nursing students from California, Katie Mylan and Kelly Hansel. During this time we were able to get the Electronic Medical Record, “Amazing Charts” back up and running and were able to use it seeing patients that week. When the rain was heavy and road poor, not too many patients came. However, when the skies were clear lots of patients were seen. The new SUV, a Toyota (hasn’t been recalled yet), did extremely well in the mud, largely due to the driving skill of John Ellis. They had meals with Douglas Villarroel and his family and we all had a great time.
Susan and Mark arrived only a couple of days after the disastrous earthquake in Haiti. They found Douglas busy in one of his many roles as the Latin American representative to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). Douglas had been in contact with the physician who was President of the Haitian IDF, trying to find out the status of diabetic patients and their access to needed insulin. He worked his contacts hard over the next couple of days and helped to get insulin to where it was needed. We hope people remember how kind the poor Bolivian patients were in raising some money for the victims of the Katrina flooding in New Orleans. That money was sent, by the way, to families uprooted by the flood. Well, they did it again. Patients from Palacios, Yapacani, Warnes and other villages contributed $24.62 towards helping the people in Haiti. We challenged everyone else there (residents, students, coordinators, etc) to match this so that a total of $316 was raised. Susan arranged for this to be sent to the Haitian through the Bill Clinton Haiti Foundation.  >> One of the highlights of this year’s Aniversario Fiesta was the graduation of 24 health promoters trained by Maria Cespedes, Dr. Vargas and Scott Hagen. They have gone back to their villages where they help their neighbors with basic health problems. During the January visit, Susan had a chance to talk with them about their efforts in diabetes education and control. Each health promoter knows how many people in her village have diabetes and how many are enrolled in our diabetes care programs. They sounded a bit like medical residents when they described their frustration with reluctant patients but they were overall enthusiastic about the work. Some go door-to-door measuring fasting blood sugars in patients who haven’t yet been persuaded to come to the central posta for glucose and blood sugar readings.
>> Finally, congratulations are in order. Congratulations to John Ellis, our current coordinator, who is leaving in April because he was accepted to a combined postbaccalaureate/Medical School program at Temple University in Philadelphia. John, of course, will be coming back to the clinic in future years as a medical student, resident and attending physician. Congratulations also to Courtney Morso, who left in March. Based on her experience at the clinic, she has decided to pursue a career in social work and is currently applying to master's programs. We wish her luck. Last but not least congratulations to Lavinia Sinitean, our former coordinator, who is now working at Northwestern in a research position in, of all things, Global Health! If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation, please send a check to the following address:
Daniels Hamant Foundation
1427 William St.
River Forest, IL
60305 |
