Since last Saturday, April 10, a group of four volunteer surgeons from Juan Ciudad NGO have been at St. Joseph's Hospital in Monrovia (Liberia) conducting a Surgery Campaign for people living in poverty, which will last until the 24th of this month.
The group is made up of pediatric surgeon Fernando Rivilla Parra and general and digestive surgery specialists Eduardo Lobo MartĂnez, Patricia Luengo Pierrard, and Laura MarĂa Tortolero Giamate. There, they met with surgeon Marlon FernĂĄndez, who works in Monrovia at a shelter for homeless children in the Cenacle Community.
According to Dr. Rivilla from Monrovia, the campaign is proceeding as planned, and today they estimate they will perform 26 interventions, including those involving children and adults with complex cases.
St. Joseph's Hospital in Monrovia reopened in November 2014, following the deaths of several Brothers and staff during the Ebola epidemic. Since then, the facility has gradually resumed its healthcare operations, although it is still not at 100% capacity.
Liberia was declared Ebola-free in January of this year, and on March 29, the World Health Organization declared the end of the international emergency due to the virus. However, triage protocols to detect possible Ebola cases are still being applied at the hospital, as isolated cases are still expected.
The goal of this new Surgery Campaign is to resume these types of activities, which were suspended during the Ebola epidemic, and to be able to perform complex surgical procedures, in addition to providing training to local surgical staff.
The team was welcomed by Brother Peter Lansana, director of St. Joseph's Hospital in Monrovia, who highly values this type of campaign, as it allows the hospital to expand its services and serve more people in need.
This surgical campaign was made possible thanks to the support of the individuals and organizations that collaborated with Juan Ciudad NGO during the last Christmas campaign, supporting the two hospitals of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God in the post-Ebola zone: Saint Joseph's Hospital in Monrovia and Saint John of God Hospital in Lunsar.
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