Cancer Team returns to Santa Cruz
The Oncological Institute of Eastern Bolivia in Santa Cruz is Bolivia’s pre-eminent public cancer hospital, treating patients who travel from across the country to access specialized care. Solidarity Bridge has partnered with the Oncological Institute since 2018, when they hosted our first Oncological Surgery Mission Trip focused on surgical treatment of colorectal, gallbladder, gastric, and other cancers. We returned in 2019, and were scheduled for a third visit in March 2020. But three years ago today, on March 10, 2020, we reluctantly canceled the imminent departure of our 15-person team. COVID-19 was at Bolivia’s doorstep.
This week, we are finally returning in person. Much has changed since we last visited in 2019. When the pandemic began, the health ministry designated the Oncological Institute as a “non-COVID” site in an effort to safeguard cancer patients whose weakened immune systems are especially vulnerable to the virus. Anyone entering the facility was screened, and those suspected of carrying COVID were diverted to designated COVID facilities. But like the rest of the world, they were unable to keep the virus at bay. Soon the Institute faced the double-challenge of caring for COVID-infected cancer patients. When every bed was full, not only at the Institute but throughout the city, they took the extreme measure of fast-tracking construction of an entire new wing. We stayed in touch with the Institute’s doctors through Zoom and shipped PPE and equipment for the new facilities, wishing we could do more to alleviate their burden. We also yearned for the day we could again work shoulder-to-shoulder, swapping knowledge and debating strategies for the care of critically ill patients.
That day is finally upon us. Our Bolivian partners at Puente de Solidaridad have been working for months with the Institute’s Medical Director, Dr. Gloria Rodriguez, to establish goals and identify patients to receive care during our visit. We met Dr. Rodriguez in 2019 when, as chief surgical resident, she was in charge of preparing patients for that year’s mission. In July 2022, Dr. Rodriguez was tapped to fill the prestigious Medical Director position when the previous Director, Dr. Nelson Bejar, stepped down due to COVID-related health complications. Dr. Rodriguez was tasked with ushering the Oncological Institute out of the COVID-19 emergency and refocusing the hospital on complex cancer care for Bolivia’s most desperate patients. Other partner physicians include Chief of Surgery Dr. Pablo Sitic, Chief Resident Dr. Cecilia Padilla, and General Surgeon Dr. Marco Antonio Sadud.
It will be an honor to be welcomed again to this prestigious institution to stand in solidarity with their distinguished professional team and their patients.
Our team includes:
cancer surgeon Dr. Malcolm Bilimoria, anesthesiologist Dr. Nabeel Khan, and physician assistants Allison Soward and Stephanie Morup. First-time missioner Ted Johnson will provide spiritual accompaniment for Bolivian patients and families, the mission team, and our local professional counterparts.
The visiting team is led by Program Director Jodi Grahl, and will be met in Santa Cruz by the staff of Puente de Solidaridad led by Executive Director Patricia Vargas. Two young Bolivian physicians, Dr. Pamela Copaga and Dr. Nicolás Rojas, and medical student Erick Urquieta, will provide interpretation.