Health care for the underserved in Santa Ana, Honduras
Baylor Shoulder to Shoulder Foundation, in alliance with the Asociación San Lucas, Honduras, aims to improve health and the provision of health services for underserved people in the area of Santa Ana, Intibuca, Honduras, and to promote self sufficiency at a grass roots level.
Santa Ana is a village of about 700 inhabitants, located in the mountains of Western Honduras, bordering El Salvador. The closest hospitals are 1-1/2 hours away in El Salvador and five hours away in La Esperanza, Honduras.
Since the initiation of the Baylor-Santa Ana relationship, construction of a clinic in Santa Ana has begun, at the request of the local government. Baylor Shoulder to Shoulder has partnered with Dr. Carol Gomez, a Honduran doctor who has lived in the area for 17 years. She provides clinical services in the unfinished clinic five days a week, and her husband Arturo Gomez works as the in-country administrative director for the Baylor Shoulder to Shoulder Foundation. Read more about Santa Ana and the clinic.
Twice a year, a brigade of medical faculty, medical students, optometrists, public health students, and a dentist travel to Santa Ana to conduct large clinics. General medical services, well-women exams, optometry services, and dental services are provided.
The clinic also has a pharmacy to provide any necessary medicines to patients. Students work with the community to develop public health projects, which have included midwife education events, women’s health initiatives, justa stoves to decrease smoke inhalation, and efforts to improve the communities overall nutritional status. Read more about public health projects
With these brigades, the foundation strives to provide students and faculty from Baylor College of Medicine and other institutions, as well as interested community members, experience working in resource-poor settings to foster interest in global health. Participants can learn firsthand about leadership, public health, and working with a community within constrained resources.
See information on how to donate to the Baylor Shoulder to Shoulder Foundation.