Dr. Wendy Gottlieb participated in the 2006 Virginia Hospital Center Medical Brigade humanitarian-healthcare medical mission trip to Honduras, a trip she attends yearly. Dr. Gottlieb, plastic and reconstructive surgeon, and a team of 77 doctors, surgeons, nurses, and non-medical support personnel each donated a week of vacation to treat 6,885 underserved Honduran citizens in Comayagua and four other poverty-stricken, outlying rural villages.

2006 Virginia Hospital Center Medical Brigade
Builds on Sustained Service Record

The Virginia Hospital Center Medical Brigade, a 501(c)3, non-profit organization that sponsors annual, humanitarian-healthcare mission trips to Honduras, one of the poorest countries in all of the Americas, has recently returned from its seventh annual, week-long trip to the third-world region. A team of 77 doctors, surgeons, nurses, and non-medical support personnel each donated a week of vacation to treat 6,885 underserved Honduran citizens in Comayagua and four other poverty-stricken, outlying rural villages. Medical services provided included adult and pediatric primary care, ophthalmology, physical therapy, audiology, and 109 surgical operations. Refurbished eyeglasses were fitted to 2,400 adults and children following on-site autorefractor examinations. Countless sets of crutches, walkers, and wheelchairs were provided to the physically impaired. A certified audiologist, who represented a new field of care for the Brigade, fit and tuned hearing-aids for 35 patients, including a 12-year old girl who was able to hear for the first time in her life. Surgical operations ranged from cesarean sections and hysterectomies, to laparoscopic gall bladder procedures, to numerous corrective strabismus surgeries, to ENT procedures, to plastic surgery, including a 4½ hour procedure to help a 16-month old girl, tragically burned when wind blew a candle into her crib. Medications, supplies, and equipment valued at over $600,000, including a fully-equipped and refurbished ambulance, all acquired with the financial support of over 150 individuals and corporate entities, were donated along with these efforts.

The Medical Brigade also expanded its outreach mission this year by seeking and receiving full support from the Honduran government for its Remote Village Project. The Remote Village Project provided didactic classroom instruction and clinical training to six well-respected rural community leaders from two remote villages (Valle Bonito and San Antonio de la Libertad – both a 3-hour trip from Comayagua) to function as certified Community Health Workers (CHWs). The three CHWs from Valle Bonito are two nuns and a blood-relative sister who run an orphanage for 17 children; the three CHWs from San Antonio de la Libertad are coffee growers. These CHWs will provide year-round counseling on community health improvements and preventive care, focusing on issues such as accessing and utilizing available treatment for tuberculosis, and the importance of clean water, proper nutrition, hygiene, and proper body mechanics for lifting. Additionally, with the support and supervision of the Medical Brigade and the Comayagua Lions, the CHWs will actually diagnose and treat a pre-set, limited number of medical conditions common to central Honduras, including infant diarrhea, ear infections, bronchitis, simple skin disorders, and intestinal parasites. The Medical Brigade has provided all necessary equipment and medications to appropriately empower both locations, and will remain in contact with each throughout the coming year to track the amount of medicine dispensed and to gauge whether it is supplying what is truly needed. A return trip to both of these villages is planned for the first quarter of 2007.

Through existing U.S. relationships with Rotary International, and relationships formed on our recently completed trip with Rotarian leaders in Honduras, the Remote Village Project has taken initial steps to assess the feasibility of providing the most effective of all prevention measures - structural water projects to bring clean water and proper latrines to the entirety of both communities. Such projects, if indeed feasible, would be financed by contributions from Rotary clubs in the United States, matched by funds provided by the Rotary Foundation’s Humanitarian Grants Program.

The Medical Brigade welcomes additional community support. For more information, access our website www.virginiahospitalcenter.com, and click on “Ways to Give.” You are encouraged to donate online. To make a tax deductible contribution, please send a check payable to the VHC Medical Brigade, and mail it to: Virginia Hospital Center, c/o Medical Staff Office, 1701 N. George Mason Drive, Arlington, VA 22205.

To schedule a consultation or an appointment at the Reston or Arlington office, please call 703-668-9499. You may also send an email to us using the form below: