Over the past 15 years, our Urraco Clinic has offered professional and caring Health Services, plus health education for the 65,000 plus people who live in the Urraco area for more than 51 villages.
Our Urraco Clinic is PRO-PAPA’s Greatest Mission
I remember a Saturday in 1990 like yesterday. A cattle truck pulled up at our home in Urraco. We lived right across from the Government Health Center. The driver knocked on our door and then he opened the back doors of his cattle truck. There was Dona Maria, with blood all over the truck. She was hemorrhaging profusely.
The Government Health Center was closed. It was Saturday. All Government Health Centers are open Monday through Friday from 7am to 12pm. Often the Centers are closed during the week if there are strikes, or meetings or the staff is visiting villages.
Dona Maria lived in a village, 45 minutes north of Urraco in a stick house 8’ X 8’. No one could come with her. I asked the driver to take us to the emergency ward at the El Progreso Government Hospital and I would pay him. He agreed. The ride was very rough in that cattle truck. Made me wonder how a sick person could take all the bouncing. After a long hour, we arrived at the Emergency Ward. The Doctor on call was busy and there were no extra beds in the Emergency area.
The Doctor told me to put “her” on the floor. He continued to tell me that “she” did not deserve a bed anyway because she probably was bleeding because she was a prostitute. The Doctor did not know Doña Maria or me.
As happened many times in the Government Hospitals, I began to cry. I begged the Doctor to take care of her. The Doctor told me that I would have to buy a list of medical materials that the Hospital did not have before he could examine her. I found everything on the list. When the nurse received the materials, the Doctor began to examine Doña Maria. She had to be admitted and stayed at the Hospital a few days. When I visited her, Doña Maria told me she could not go home until she paid the Hospital fee of Lps. 300 ($15).
Over the years, many similar medical emergencies took place while I lived in Urraco (1988-1995).
In 1992, PRO-PAPA got word that a wealthy man in New York, Jack McCrane wanted to help build a Clinic under the direction of PRO-PAPA’s Foundation in Urraco. He heard about our people’s need for a Medical Clinic that could be open 7 days a week, for 24 hours. Was I dreaming or did I hear correctly? It was true! December 4, 1994, the Urraco Clinic was finished and blessed.
For the last 15 years, since March 15, 1995, patient after patient was taken care of --all hours of the day and night, 365 days each year. Many Babies, Children and Adults near death were saved. Children with terrible Asthma attacks were relieved by our Nebulizor machine or oxygen tank. All kinds of emergencies were taken care of immediately—cuts, gun shot wounds, dehydration, respiratory and urinary infections, high fevers, children with coughs and colds, minor surgeries, terrible allergies, snake, animal bites, stomach or intestinal problems, high blood pressure and diabetes, etc. etc. Our Urraco Clinic has all the necessary medicines and materials thanks to PPMA’s monthly subsidy of $3,000.
The patients who need major surgery, or a Specialist and Mothers with serious birthing problems were stabilized and sent to one of the Government Hospitals—1 to 2 hours from Urraco. Now there are more specialists and surgeons in all Government Hospitals.
The Urraco Clinic is not a free clinic. The Clinic has a Pay Scale for each patient.
Pay entire fee. $2.00 Doctor visit plus Medicines and Hospitalization if needed.
Pay 50% of fee for those who can pay part of the Medical Fee.
Pay nothing -- extremely poor.
Urraco Clinic Expenses each month: 11 Employees: $3,525.00
Medicines: $3,000.00 (PPMA)
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