By Dr. Francisco Castro-Barillas-

I want to give you a report on our Health Program at Dorie’s Promise, outlining our achievements in the previous year and our successful support of the care provided to our children.  This program has been an invaluable support to Forever Changed and Dorie’s Promise’s goal to provide a loving Christian home for children to grow, thrive, develop, and reach their full potential.

Our medical program has accomplished many achievements in 2012.  We have fulfilled all administrative, Health Program, and clinical duties.  One hundred percent of the illnesses at Dorie’s Promise have been solved satisfactorily and have not returned or resulted in complications thanks to early interventions, preventive measures, and close monitoring.  Every child continues to receive comprehensive, personalized pediatric medical attention.  In 2012, their health needs were properly attended to on a daily and as-needed basis and continue to be.  Not a single dangerous infectious disease outbreak has happened since 2007 (before my arrival).  Every new child presenting to Dorie’s Promise with acute undernourishment has fully recovered within two weeks of coming into our care.

Dental cavities have been attended to and treated in 97% of cases.  A few children are still being treated, and two have not been able to receive attention due to psychological concerns and/or developmental delay.  Obesity has not been a concern for most of our children, except that five of them remain overweight.

Our health program has proven extremely proficient in handling health concerns independently: 97% of illnesses were solved by our Health Program at Dorie’s Promise through physician and nursing interventions—only 3% of health problems needed a second opinion or the utilization of outside facilities.

In addition to providing for the care of our children, the nurse and I were able to give medical attention to Dorie’s Promise personnel and families (with 225 medical and 350 nurse consultations).  We have an open-door policy for our families and personnel.  These interventions and preventative measures allowed us to address illnesses and prevent infectious disease outbreaks in our facility.  The nurse and I were also able to provide education and medical attention for missionaries and other visitors, ensuring that health concerns were addressed as needed.

Thanks to our Health Program, Forever Changed has saved a large amount of money, being supported by US and Guatemalan donations.  100% of our vaccines were donated by our Guatemalan friends and the Ministry of Health’s donations. 97% of laboratory procedures and tests have been performed for free (80% by private lab donations and 17% by public hospital assistance).

Overall, the Health Program has enabled us to provide a much needed service that supports the safety, well-being, and development of our children in Dorie’s Promise.  We look forward to continuing our service in the coming year.