Project Dominica is an ongoing mission that supports outreach programs in conjunction with Hospital General el Buen Samaritano in La Romana Dominican Republic . These programs serve the Haitian population working harvesting sugar cane in the bateys in the surrounding area. This population is extremely medically underserved and many have no citizenship in any country , Haiti or the Dominican Republic.The other population served are those imprisoned in the Dominican penal system, which receive littel or not medical care. Project Dominica provides additional support to the existing medical system . Local medical providers organize full day clinics for many of the bateys , the staff for these events are made up of physicians , nurses and pharmacists from the USA and Canada. In addition , each team has representative. Dominican physicians and dentists . The big difference these groups make is in not only treatment of regular chronic disease such as hypertension and diabetes, but also in the identification of more unusual ailments , congenital heart disease ... , that may be cured by more specialized intervention.
Both the population working in the bateys and those incarcerated in the Dominican penal system are severely medically underserved.
Supporting the already existing medical system by delivering a higher level of care and educating the local medical providers in diagnosis and treatment with available resources. Identifying patients that may have curable diseases requiring a higher level of care.
Our trip under the auspices of Project Dominicana focuses on the Haitian population in the bateys outside of La Romana and the men and women incarcerated in the nearby prisons and jails. Both of these populations are medically grossly underserved. Our general medical clinics are designed to boost the existing medical services provided by the sugar companies in the bateys and the government in the prisons.
Our team this trip was staffed by five US physicians and six support personnel who's major task was the running of the pharmacy during each clinic. Additional support was given by local organizations serving these populations. Approximately 850 patients were seen in five days. A Dominican dentist accompanied us each day and saw between 20 -30 patients per session , most of whom required extractions. The disease processes were varied but included : hypertension , diabetes and a diverse mix of infectious diseases. Patients identified as needing more complex care are , when possible , referred to local hospitals . Two recent cases included a young boy suffering from long term complications of a pelvic fracture and a young man with deformed feet. Both of these patients are receiving care at nearby medical centers.
Overall our week long medical clinics were very successful and provided services to complement the existing system. Our group lead by Dr Robert Chagrasulis maintains regular contact with the local organizations serving the bateys and prisons.
We would like to thank the Dox Foundation for its most generous support allowing us to serve the people of the Dominican Republic.
