Neurotrauma Team Departs for Sucre
The Santa Barbara Hospital was founded in 1554. The facade (photographed here in October 2022) has been preserved since construction was completed in 1559.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the greatest global contributor to death and disability among all trauma-related injuries. In Bolivia’s public hospitals, head trauma from traffic accidents, falls, or violence represents a pressing healthcare burden. Head and spine injuries affect the long-term quality of life not only of the injured patient but of entire families and communities. Effective care for neurotrauma patients depends on the entire continuum of care from pre-hospital resuscitation to post-hospital rehabilitation.
In response to this reality and at the request of our Bolivian partners, the Neurosurgery & Neurology Institute (NNI) of Solidarity Bridge is sending a multi-disciplinary team to Sucre, Bolivia, to launch a long-term collaboration with a specific focus on neurotrauma care. The overarching goal of the “Sucre Neurotrauma Initiative,” developed in collaboration with the Hospital Santa Bárbara in Sucre, is to reduce the number of individuals who tragically suffer death or disability due to traumatic brain or spine injuries.
The ambulance bay at Santa Barbara Hospital.
In the coming week, the NNI team will engage with diverse hospital departments involved in neurotrauma care, including emergency, trauma surgery, anesthesia, critical care, neurosurgery, nursing, and neuro rehabilitation. Through this engagement we will learn from our Bolivian counterparts and discuss best practices and guidelines for treatment of patients with head and spine injuries. Together we will set goals and outline the means toward reduced death and disability from neurotrauma over the next three years. With hospital stakeholders, we will also explore feasibility for the implementation of a neurotrauma registry. To close our week in Sucre, the NNI and our Bolivian partners are co-hosting a two-day Bolivian American Neurotrauma Symposium focused on the exchange of consensus-based guidelines and universal best practices for neurotrauma management.
Our interdisciplinary team includes neurosurgeons Dr. Richard Moser, Dr. Barbara Lazio, Dr. John Weaver, Dr. Jared Ament, and Dr. Silvia Vaca; neuro anesthesiologists Dr. Deepak Sharma and Dr. Sonal Sharma; neuro critical care nurse Francis Moore; and neuro rehabilitation specialist Dr. Victoria Harding, with Dr. Joe Sherman leading team facilitation and accompaniment. The group is accompanied by Solidarity Bridge staff Lindsay Doucette and Maria Eugenia Brockmann, as well as Puente de Solidaridad Executive Director Patricia Vargas. The visit is hosted by the Neurosurgery Service of the Hospital Santa Bárbara in Sucre, the Neurosurgical Society of Chuquisaca, and the Chuquisaca Medical College.
We look forward to reuniting with our colleagues and friends in Sucre to kick off this critical next phase of our partnership with the Santa Barbara Hospital.
Through partnerships and collaborative actions that are measurable and sustainable, the Neurosurgery and Neurology Institute works to build capacity and expertise in Bolivia and Paraguay in order to increase access to safe, affordable and timely health care.
We are committed to alleviating the suffering, death and disability from neurological disorders and injuries that disproportionately impact patients in the countries where we serve.