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Health Committee

About

One of the most active of the Boulder-Cuba Sister City Organization’s five committees is our Health and Community Wellness Committee.

Health care in Yateras

In the municipality of Yateras there are a 20-bed hospital in Palenque which is currently being renovated and updated, a smaller hospital in Bernardo with approximately 16 beds, and a polyclinic with observation beds in Felicidad.  There are maternity homes and many family doctor offices throughout Yateras.  In addition, the provincial hospital in the city of Guantánamo cares for patients from the entire province.  Generally pregnant women from Yateras deliver their babies in this hospital to have ready access to a blood bank and intensive services for at-risk newborns.  There is also a provincial medical school in Guantanamo that trains physicians and nurses.

Sister City members have worked with health officials and other representatives in Guantánamo to better understand the health needs of Yateras and the province in general and have been able to carry out several projects. 

Our main emphasis has been on the following three:   First, based on the request by health officials in Yateras, the Sister City Organization provided resources to refurbish a hogar materno (a center for women for high-risk pregnancies) providing paint and new furniture, a health clinic, and paint for several areas of the municipal hospital.

painting the maternity home  the maternity home

The second included a shipment of hospital equipment and supplies to the hospital in Palenque, the capital of Yateras, and to the provincial hospital in Guantánamo.  In December 2003 health professionals including Sister City members and Yateras health providers conducted a medical needs assessment. Boulder Community Hospital donated the needed equipment and the equipment and assorted medical supplies were shipped to Cuba during the summer of 2004.

loading donations from Boulder Community Hospital      donations arrive in Guantanamo  

donated maternity equipment in Guantanamo

 Our current project is a collaboration with Denver’s Project C.U.R.E., (www.projectcure.org) a non-profit, humanitarian relief organization that collects medical supplies and equipment and donates it to developing countries. We are fundraising to pay the expenses and shipping costs of at least three 40-foot cargo containers of medical equipment and supplies to Yateras and Guantanamo province.  Thanks to our fundraising efforts, including grants from the Christopher Reynolds Foundation and local Rotary organizations, the first container was shipped in January, 2008, and the next two will be shipped in March. 

The Health and Community Wellness committee has also brought several speakers to the Boulder area to speak about health care in Cuba.  In 2007 Dr. Peter Bourne, CEO of Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba (www.medicc.org) presented the documentary Salud at the Conference on World Affairs at the University of Colorado and will also be a panelist at the 2008 CWA.

As part of our health exchanges, our Cuban counterparts have been generous in hosting visiting groups and sharing their wealth of knowledge in what has already proven to be a fruitful partnership.

(updated February 2008) 

loading Project CURE container    loading Project CURE container

BOCUSCO members help load the first Project C.U.R.E. container to Guantánamo.

 

January 2010 BOCUSCO/Project CURE assessment delegation 2010

Guantanamo hospital Director and Allison

General Hospital in Guantánamo City.

bocusco members preparing to observe surgery

Preparing to observe surgery

Hospital room, Guantánamo City

Hospital room, Guantánamo City hospital

Patient in Pediatric Hospital, Guantánamo City.

Patient in Pediatric Hospital, Guantánamo City

Dental clinic, Palenque, Yateras

Dental Clinic, Palenque, YaterasCountry doctor residence/clinic in Yateras

Country doctor's residence/clinic, Yateras

 

 

 

Photo Gallery

Medical Shipment 2004