Dream Hospital
How would you feel if you lived in a town of 15,000 people with two medical doctors that seldom see patients on a regular basis?
There are no hospitals there.
There is one small inadequately equipped clinic with an assigned doctor who is seldom there.
About an hour away is a hospital for mostly medical patients.
The hospital doctor does not always see the patients when they come and he may not even come in at night for an emergency.
The next town, another hour or more away, has two small hospitals. One may have doctors on duty during the day, but not usually at night. The other hospital has doctors on duty or on call 24/7 and the staff is very compassionate in their treatment and care. Neither hospital is qualified to do elective surgery. Both handle emergency surgery but must send major surgical patients another 2+ hours away to the Provincial Capital of Puerto Princessa. I am sure, you would feel very insecure as it relates to your medical/surgical health in the time of illness.
The town that has just been described is in the northern part of the island of Palawan in the Philippines. The island of Palawan is the “last frontier” of the Philippines. There are still virgin hardwood forests of which there are very few remaining in the Philippines due to over-logging, slash and burn for upland rice farming, and illegal logging. There are numerous tribal groups that live and range in the forests. Beside the lush rain forest, some of the most beautiful beaches and resort areas of the Philippines are found on the island of Palawan. Palawan has become one of the leading tourist attractions in the Philippines. Tourists from all over the world come to the town mentioned above.
One of the main complaints about the area is that there are no medical facilities to treat the tropical diseases to which they are frequently exposed. Some of the diseases that are contracted in the whole northern Palawan area are malaria, tuberculosis, cholera, dengue fever, typhoid, hepatitis and a number of intestinal disorders. To receive treatment for the ailments the tourist must fly 1.5–2 hours to Manila via one of three or four small airplane flights per day.
A hospital built in this town would be a “Dream Hospital”. It has been a dream for the people of the town and region for many years. Having been involved in medical outreach clinics in the area over the last thirty years; It has become the dream of the Project Manager to see that a well supplied and equipped hospital with general surgical capabilities be built there. This hospital would not only meet the needs of the tourists but also of the people in the area, even the poor, of which the majority of the people are.
Most of the people in the area are subsistence farmers and/or fishermen. In a dire emergency a few of these will travel the distance to one of the other hospitals. Often because of the fear of what it will cost to travel, and for treatment, they will wait too long and death is often be the result.
The hospital would serve other towns and numerous small islands in the area. A hospital giving compassionate care and treatment would draw people from 2-3 hours away by public transportation and from further away by boat. The population of these areas is in the neighborhood of 100,000. Remember, these are people that have no access to surgical treatment for as much as 6 hours by public transportation, and many with out resources or means of travel.
Think about this.
The U.S.A. is becoming more and more concerned about not all of our people having access to healthcare insurance. We are talking about as many as 100,000 people not having access to a clinic or hospital and in some cases, not even a doctor to examine a feverish child or set a fracture or to perform an appendectomy.
Become a Compassionate Partner
Your gift, though small, in the U.S.A. can give a big boost in the Philippines. Your large gift will mean so much to those in need. The estimated cost to purchase land, build a hospital and supply it with minimal equipment to treat the majority of the people of the area for disease and meet the average surgical need is approximately $1 million. Give generously, you will never regret it.
