Alleviating Surgical Backlogs
Our first mission trip of 2022 is underway! Dr. Magued Khouzam, general surgeon from Springfield, Ohio, is traveling to Bolivia accompanied by Jodi Grahl, Director of our General Surgery Program. They will be partnering with the surgical team at Hospital del Norte, a new public hospital in Cochabamba.
The local Health Ministry built Hospital del Norte to alleviate patient backlogs in Cochabamba’s public health system. Patients in need of complex care from throughout central Bolivia are referred to the specialized hospitals in Cochabamba, especially Viedma Hospital, site of multiple Solidarity Bridge General Surgery Mission Trips over the past two decades. But patient demand—in particular for complex surgeries—far outpaces capacity at Viedma.
For years, surgical patients have languished on months-long waiting lists. The situation is especially dire now. As COVID-19 infection rates decline in Bolivia, patients whose care was postponed during the pandemic are overwhelming the system, even with the expanded capacity provided by the new hospital. Our mission team will assist in over a dozen surgeries to help alleviate the crushing demand. At the same time, Magued will mentor his Bolivian colleagues in advanced laparoscopic techniques to treat conditions such as hiatal hernia and esophageal achalasia.
Patricia Vargas and José Choque of Puente de Solidaridad carefully review the list of essential supplies delivered to Hospital del Norte on Friday, March 18, in anticipation of our visit. Partner surgeon Dr. Lucho Herrera (in lab coat) and hospital administrators (in blue) will verify that the supplies are used to serve patients in need.
Magued and Jodi also carried urgently needed laparoscopic surgery supplies for use during the mission trip and for future mobile surgery campaigns. Our Bolivian partners have 12 campaigns scheduled this year to provide complex surgeries in towns across the country. These campaigns are another way to alleviate pressure on hospitals in the capital cities—by providing surgery in a patient’s local hospital, the patient and their family avoid traveling to the city for care. Our local partner surgical teams have the training and equipment to provide high-quality care for these underserved areas of the country, but they need a constant supply of laparoscopic instruments, sutures, sterile surgical packs, anesthesia supplies, and other specialized products such as those hand-carried by our missioners on this trip.
Our Bolivian counterparts in the O.R. include many doctors with whom Magued has previously scrubbed-in on his many visits. Alongside a heavy surgical schedule, everyone is looking forward to reconnecting among friends and peers.
Stay tuned for news from our team in Cochabamba!