Clinic Construction in Santa Rosa

07 Mar Clinic Construction in Santa Rosa

By Phil Waldron, CEO Mission UpReach, Inc.

Health care in Honduras is free!

However, like so many other socialist programs in the history of socialism, there are enormous flaws with the system and the result is that the poor do not have easy access to quality health care. I don’t know the statistics; however, I can tell you from anecdotal experience that when a person with no money presents with a problem, if they can get in to see the doctor, they will get a free consult and not much else. In addition, there is almost never any medicine available and the “machines” to do the required tests are often unavailable or broken. Like I said, it’s anecdotal evidence illustrated by true stories that are true almost without exception that someone might easily dismiss as an aberration. But when you know the people and their problems, and you hear some version of the same story over and over again, your heart will ache to help mitigate the problem.

Last year we were blessed to receive a donation that was earmarked to build a medical clinic here in Santa Rosa de Copán, Honduras. In reality, it was more than a donation for simply a clinic because the donor allowed us to use part of the funds as a down payment for the purchase of the warehouse and surrounding property that we have been using as; a church meeting place, a basketball court for our DESEO UPWARD program, classrooms for our children’s afternoon tutoring activities, and much more. The property is 1.25 acres and has an 8,000 square foot warehouse with a 22’-0” high ceiling. The rest of the funds were used to build a second floor inside the existing warehouse in the front half of the building. This second floor increased our overall square footage from 8,000 S.F. to 11,000 S.F. of useable floor space.

Our first priority in construction was to divide the space in the existing warehouse and create two distinct spaces. The plans call for shared bathrooms between the clinic and our church and DESEO’s UPWARD basketball program. The bottom floor of the Clinic is accessed either by an internal stairwell or via a handicap ramp that wraps around the inside of the building. Our Architect, Gloria Pineda, is a member of our local Barrio Belen Iglesia de Cristo and has done excellent work with our master plan for the property. The priority right now is to raise enough money to complete the construction and startup of the clinic which, when finished, will attend to the needs of the very poor in our community. Our responsibility at MUR is to construct the physical space and furnish it, and then not too far in the future, we will be operating the clinic via a joint agreement with a US medical school.

The entrance to the clinic will be from the main street level via a handicap ramp and/or steps. One will ascend to the new floor we are constructing (which is presently about 4’-0” above the street level) which is the main floor of the Clinic. Our church building space will be accessed from the side of the building via a new street that a developer is currently installing. Be sure and look at the newsletters over the next few months because we will be sharing more and more information about the Clinic Project as it develops. We thank God for how he uses the generosity of His people to provide for these types of projects that bring honor and glory to His name and alleviate the suffering of the poor.