La Vida en Roatan

Week 1:

Greetings from Roatán!

For the past week and a half I have enjoyed getting familiar with the island and meeting new people. I am only here for a month and I cannot believe how quickly time is going by!

I am currently volunteering at Global Healing’s Roatan Volunteer Pediatric Clinic every day and at Clinica Esperanza twice a week. The work environments at both health care facilities have been so different.

The Roatan Volunteer Pediatric Clinic is located inside Roatan’s Public Hospital. The public hospital is in very bad condition. It is crowded and poorly maintained. There is no running water in most of the hospital and patients have no access to a restroom. It is poorly ventilated and gets extremely hot, as patients crowd the narrow halls throughout the day.

Patients usually arrive at the public hospital around 6:30 a.m. in order to get a number to be seen by the doctor (appointments are not scheduled ahead of time). Global Healing’s clinic sees about 20 patients per day. Therefore, the first 20 patients that arrive and sign in are seen that day and those who arrive later have to come back and try the next day (unless it is an emergency, of course). Once all the spots are filled, I collect the patients’ charts and begin triage for all the patients before they are seen by the doctors. I am also responsible for documenting each patient’s visit. Patient charts are very unorganized and inaccurate. Sometimes it is even difficult to find a patient’s correct name or birth date!

There are currently two resident physicians working at the clinic. It is great that the permanent doctor, Dr. Karla Cerritos has this extra help, so the clinic can see more patients per day. I have been able to work with children ranging from newborns to early teens. It is great seeing the smiles on children’s faces when I tickle their tummies or give them a sticker. I have gotten hugs and smiles, but also, hysterically crying children. All in all, as hectic as it can be, I enjoy interning at the clinic and getting to interact with the patients.

Clinica Esperanza is a low-cost medical clinic founded by Nurse Peggy Stranges. The clinic is quite a different scene from the hospital. It is air conditioned, with brightly colored rooms and electronic management. At this clinic, I have worked translating for health care providers and helping in the pharmacy. I look forward to getting more hands-on experience working with patients at this clinic and also learning new skills from other volunteers. Thanks to donations and volunteers, Clinica Esperanza is able to provide quality care for patients in Roatan. However, in cases where the clinic does not have the resources or ability to treat a patient the individual may have to go to the public hospital. If a patient’s health care needs are not met at the clinic or hospital, they are sent to the mainland in Honduras for treatment. The mainland is about an hour and a half away by ferry.

The health care system in Roatan is much different than the health care system I have come to know in the United States. Sadly, the reality is that there is a great lack of resources in Roatan and there is only so much that medical providers can do within those constraints.

Nevertheless, there are individuals like Nurse Peggy or like Doctora Karla who are working hard to provide great care for the people of Roatan. I look forward to learning more and seeing more in my next three weeks Roatan. Until next time! I look forward to having some interesting updates!