Hispanic American Medical Association of Louisiana (HAMAL)

Juan Gershanik, M.D., Past-President

PO Box 850868 New Orleans, LA 70185-0868

504/896-2229, fax 896-5782

This group informs and advises the Hispanic community and Hispanic students about health issues and pursuing a career in medicine, awards scholarships to Hispanic students, and provides aid to Latin American Countries.

They have regular meetings and lectures on medical topics and participate in Hispanic community health fairs.

REPORT ON THE MEDICAL COMPONENT OF THE

LOUISIANA TRADE MISSION TO HONDURAS

The medical initiative was born as a collaborative effort of the Hispanic American Medical Association of Louisiana (HAMAL) and The New Orleans Saints. It took shape as a medical component of the Louisiana Trade Mission put together by Marisol Canedo, director of Metrovision's International Division and Eugene Schreiber, executive director of the World Trade Center. The traveling medical group, led by Dr. Juan Jorge Gershanik, past President of HAMAL and a neonatologist at Memorial Medical Center and West Jefferson Hospital, included Dr. Sue Fielkow, a pediatrician at Ochsner; Dr. Mayer Heiman, an internist, founder and President of the International Hospital for Children (IHC) and Dr. Elaine Urbina, M.D., FAAP, FACC, a pediatric cardiologist, Tulane Hospital for Children, Section of Pediatric Cardiology and faculty member of the Tulane School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine.

In the morning of Wednesday, July 3rd, we went to the Hospital Escuela where we met with Dr. Gaspar Vallecillo, Director of the Hospital, and other members of the medical staff. They described the hospital facilities and showed us some statistical data. After that meeting, we presented a seminar entitled "Vida y Corazon" (Life and Heart) for physicians, nurses and medical students.( Drs. Gershanik and Urbina lectured on topics related to neonatology and pediatric cardiology). During the break, there was a special presentation to the Hospital Escuela authorities of a donation of 1,000 hand made sweaters for infants, a computer with a printer, and many audiovisual tapes on maternal-infant and public health topics.

Attending the presentation were the Mayor of Tegucigalpa, Miguel Rodrigo Pastor Mejia, his wife Dr. Nora Liduvina Melgar de Pastor, who presides over the Fundacion Cerro de Plata, and other ladies of the Board of Directors of the Foundation. (Fundacion Cerro de Plata is a non-profit foundation that is a major force in the improvement of medical programs in Honduras, with emphasis in the area of maternal and child care). As it happened with most of our activities, the national TV stations and the media covered the presentation and Mayor Pastor and the hospital authorities acknowledged the importance of the contributions in the relationship between New Orleans and the Capital City of Honduras.

At the end of the seminar, we toured the Neonatology Section and the Labor and Delivery Ward, making rounds with the physicians and the nursing staff, who conveyed to us their concerns and needs. The needs in this Hospital, that is the main teaching vehicle for Honduran medical students, are overwhelming. Our team felt very committed to provide continuous help in the educational field and in the provision of medicines, equipment and other related resources. Afterwards, we went to the Mercado Zona Belen, a densely populated area of limited resources that Mayor Miguel Pastor has undertaken as one of the projects for renovation and improvement.

" Clinica Nueva Orleans" was inaugurated there in honor of the visiting mission, with Mayor Pastor and Dr. Gershanik cutting the inauguration ribbon. The Clinic aims at preventive medicine, such as vaccination and outpatient care, including dental care and psychology consultations. Because it lacks equipment and medicines, we made up a " wish list" that we will try to obtain for the Clinic as well as other forms of medical assistance. After touring the facilities, Mayor Pastor and the medical team attended a special presentation by students from the area's public school, who danced and sang in English in our honor.

FOLLOW-UP

1- The first of hopefully many 40 foot containers was shipped to Honduras in August 2002. These items were sent to the Clinica Nueva Orleans and the service of Neonatology at the Hospital Escuela, donated by IHC and many local hospitals, We feel that focusing first in the needs of the Maternal and Pediatric Departments of the Medical School Hospital and Clinica Nueva Orleans may enhance the chances of success of our mission.

2- We are collecting equipment that is functional but is being discarded by many hospitals as they upgrade their services, and we continue to contact different medical institutions for donation of other usable equipment and medicines.

3- We are trying to locate places such as warehouses to store the donated goods for future shipping. We contacted the Port of New Orleans and other sources for assistance. Some individuals promised temporary space until we succeed in getting permanent quarters.

4- We are trying to locate shipping companies that would donate the transport of goods to Honduras. We are hoping for good news in the future.

5- We are getting other educational brochures in Spanish from CADA and the MOD.

6- We are developing the logistics for the pediatric training of Honduran physicians with the help of Dr. John Lewy, Chair of Pediatrics and Dr. Urbina at Tulane Medical School and Dr. Sorensen, Chair and Dr. Alfonso Vargas, Professor of Pediatrics, at LSU.

7- We have set up meetings with administrators and appropiate individuals in charge at local teaching medical centers to develop mini- fellowships programs for specialists other than pediatricians.

8- We have arranged meetings with local hospitals to develop special packages for medical care with special rates for services to international patients and strategies to advertise them. Packages may include lodging for patients and their families and other amenities.

9- We are planning future volunteer trips and have invited other physicians, including internists, obstetricians, surgeons, podiatrist, etc., as well as neonatal nurses and nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, biomedical engineers, bilingual CADA educators and others that could broaden our assistance to different sectors of the population. We are continuing to work very closely with our valuable partners of MetroVision and the World Trade Center to pursue the goals and achieve the complete success of the medical component of the Trade Mission.

Any questions? Contact cmig@tulane.edu