First Simple Surgeries Performed
Diligence and collaboration pay off as first surgery is performed at our on-site surgery center.
Photo: American volunteers Tara Ashleman and Natalie Klinkenberger pose with Doctor Cerna after performing a series of minor surgeries in our newly operating on-site surgery center.
On Wednesday, March 26, 2008 the first surgery was performed in the septic surgical room of the NPH Surgical Center. With news of the sterile surgery center getting out, many local villagers are coming to the sterile facility for minor surgeries. Every Wednesday morning patients who need minor surgeries, such as mole and wart removal, are scheduled with the Honduran doctor, Dr. Cerna, with assistance from volunteers Tara Ashleman and mylself. Our volunteer optometrist, Christiane Hensel, has also been working out of a small room in the center, performing eye exams and improving the quality of sight for patients both from the external clinic and our children.
Over the past 11 months the Quirofano, or Surgery Center, has come a long way. A team of workers and volunteers, nicknamed Team Q, both from the NPH family and community, have been diligently working to put the final touches on the Surgery Center. The sturdy sheetrock ceiling was completed in early October, with enough space to allow electricians to walk through and repair. Air conditioning was installed in late December by a team from Tegucigalpa, and students studying in the metal workshop built anti-corrosive metal stands outside for the units. These same students have also constructed the metal doors placed throughout the clinic. Osman, one of our talented university students studying Electrical Engineering, has been a consistent key player in the electrical setup of the clinic, installing the large 200 pound surgical lights within a weekend.
Visitors, current volunteers, and ex-volunteers have also played an essential role in the finishing touches of the Surgery Center. Carl Stevens, an ex-volunteer, helped renovate the floors during a short trip in March with a high school team, producing the non-porous floor required by the Ministry of Health. With the majority of the construction done, volunteers Laura Vincent, Finn Ehrlich, Klaus Groot, Soraya Palmer and I took time to help clean the Surgery Center in preparation for a large shipment of medical supplies.
Dr. Peter Daly and his wife, Lulu Daly, visited the Ranch in January to help unload a considerable amount of donated office equipment and surgical supplies. With an inventory of materials received, Dr. Daly, Lulu, and I walked through the Surgery Center and made a list of tasks and minor projects that needed to be completed. Throughout February and March, the wooden doors made by the students in our woodshop were refinished, the walls repainted and the whole building cleaned from ceiling to floor. The clinic is starting to resemble a Surgical Center one would expect to see in the United States, and the different components of a clinic are distinguishable, with tinted glass doors dividing the sterile white area from the warm yellow and blues of the administrative/waiting area.
We have completed numerous construction projects, overcome many obstacles, and are currently working on the final stages of preparation for outpatient surgeries. Our current development is the addition of tubing for anesthesia and suction, with a completion date of July 2008.
Many thanks to those who have helped bring the Surgery Center along, and have motivated and supported us all throughout this project.
Natalie Klinkenberger
Surgery Center Project Manager