Synergy

Work is becoming more routine at the Olanchito Hospital as the teams fall into a pattern. Teams are working more efficiently and operations have become more seamless. We are experiencing good synergy with local staff on all of our teams, especially the gynecology team, which is comprised of mostly Honduran staff working with Dr. Pepe Misas.

Dr. Misas explained to me today that local OBGYN doctors are not receptive to our presence and have not been willing to collaborate with us in any way. Our only interaction with an OBGYN physician from Honduras was with a Cuban physician who is here for two years. We are also working very closely with the Chief of Surgery, Guillermo Valladarez, who is our host this week.

A reason for the feeling of dissent may be due to the fact that they delay the surgeries the type of surgeries that we are performing so that the patients are forced to pay for them in the private sector, although all of the patients that we cared for are living in destitude and cannot afford to pay for the surgery.

26 procedures were completed today, including hysterectomies, cleft lip repairs, burn scar revisions, facial deformity correction, cholecystectomies, hernia repairs, and hypospadius repairs. Dr. Wolf was eager to help one 13 year old boy fix his nasal deformity, which was attempted once before by a Honduran doctor with the incorrect procedure. His classmates bully him and call him a chimpanzee due to his flat nose. Dr. Wolf was able to repair his nose so that he will only have a small scar on the tip of his nose.