M Health Fairview addresses healthcare inequities through global networks
It’s a challenging, nearly two-hour journey on a bumpy road into the mountains from the airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras to the 25-bed Hospital Socorro de lo Alto. In January — after two years of not being able to travel due to COVID-19 — John Wilson, MD, retired Fairview orthopedic surgeon, and his wife Jill made the trip for the 18th time.
The Wilsons led two teams that each spent a week operating on hips, knees, and shoulder joints, and providing gynecological and endocrinal care. Sixty-eight volunteers worked with patients who would otherwise not have access to these types of specialty care. People, many of whom have a low income, waited for hours to see the specialists. They were only charged a minimal fee for nursing services from the onsite staff. Volunteer surgeon and support staff time was donated.
Over the two-week span, the teams performed 114 operations and evaluated more than 300 patients in the clinic.
Expanding our mission beyond our borders
M Health Fairview is committed to addressing health inequities in our local communities and across the globe by supporting and encouraging medically-focused volunteering by employees, retired staff, and volunteers. Funds, given by employees and other donors and designated to the program, help defray the cost of participants’ travel and the cost of medical supplies. Most participants donate a week of their time, but some trips have been six months or longer.
“We have very generous employees from teams across the organization, including providers, nurses, finance, medical records, and nutrition services staff that have volunteered their time and talent,” said Ann Ellison, liaison for Medical Missions and a member of the M Health Fairview Community Advancement team. “During the 35 years our program has been supporting trips, participants have traveled to more than 40 countries, mostly in Central America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, our support of this important work didn’t stop even though the volunteer trips did due to travel restrictions.
“We knew our partner organizations still had significant needs and we wanted to help in any way we could,” said Ellison. “Our Medical Missions committee quickly shifted focus to provide grants for equipment, supplies, and medications so operations could continue.”
In 2021, the M Health Fairview Medical Missions program awarded $55,000 in grants to nonprofit partner organizations in six countries for capacity building and COVID-19 relief. The grants helped cover the cost of personal protective equipment, COVID-19 testing kits, oxygen and oxygen-related supplies, stethoscopes, and blood pressure cuffs to better equip healthcare teams. In addition, we were able to support the continuing education of healthcare providers and health literacy in these communities.
