- Medical Mission Initiative Mission Statement: To enable medical students and residents to have an “in the field experience” that will assist them in discovering their God-given passion for medical missions.
- Medical Mission Initiative Vision Statement: Our vision is for medical students and residents to come to understand how medical missions can be a part of God’s will for their lives, and be a catalyst to a lifetime of medical service to those in need.
Click here to read recent stories from grantees’ trips
Click here to apply for a Medical Missions grant
Medical Mission Board of Advisors
The primary function of this board is to provide input and recommendations for funding of the work in the Medical Mission Initiative to the board of Project Hope Northwest. The Medical Mission Board of Advisors meets regularly, either in person and or virtually through email and web conferences.
Board of Advisors:
- Angela Larson
- Steven Teeny
- Michael McLaughlin
- David Ricker
- Haley Hostetler
- Michael Rommen
Support the Medical Missions Initiative
There are two ways to provide financial support for this initiative
- Mail a check: Checks can be mailed to support the Lebanon Initiative. This is the preferred method as all funds will go directly to the cause. Include ‘Medical Missions Initiative’ in the memo line on the check.
Checks should be mailed to
P.O. Box 31406
Seattle, WA 98103
- Online donation: These are processed through Paypal and have a small fee (2.2% + $0.30 per transaction) that is charged for the processing costs. Online donations can be made with credit card or bank accounts.
To give online, enter your donation amount above and click on the ‘donate’ button. Before completing donation through Paypal, select ‘Add special instructions to the seller’ and type ‘Medical Missions Initiative’ in this box.
Highlights from 2019 Grantee Experiences
ELWA Hospital, Monrovia, Sudan
Katrina Gerbrand, Campbell University Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine
Over her time at ELWA hospital, Katrina (Kat) worked on the obstetrics-gynecology, surgery, and pediatric wards, with occasional visits to the male and female internal medicine wards. She sorted through paper charts trying to determine past vital signs, previous lab work, orders that had been given, physician and nurses notes. In pediatrics, much of the patient population was malnourished, and many received “Plumpynuts” – a 500 calorie pack of protein packed peanut butter. Kat saw the anxiety of the doctors when it was running out and the sigh of relief when another shipment came in and there was more to give. Other cases she saw in pediatrics included Burkitt’s lymphoma, cerebral malaria, recovery from car accidents, and neonates with tetanus and sepsis.
Quotes:
“The struggles woven into the fabric of the culture of Liberia affects how they live, how they work, how they love others, how they react to death…The challenges faced in Liberian hospitals are a lack of education of staff and patients, huge disparities in salary between the average Liberian and people in government, surprising apathy towards the death of others, and the number of completely preventable deaths due to lack of resources, training, vaccines, or early care.”
“I am grateful to Project Hope Northwest for helping to provide the opportunity to travel to Liberia and see a place where God is working and where his servants are so faithful and so needed. I do not know fully what God plans for me, but I am confident from this trip that long-term medical missions is part of it, and I am willing to embrace that calling.”
Tenwek Hospital, Bomet, Kenya
Alexandra Mara and Clayton Templeton, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University
This husband and wife pair traveled to Tenwek Hospital in Bomet county, Kenya where the belief is, “We treat, Jesus Heals”. Clayton (Clay) worked as a pediatrician and Alexandra (Alex) worked as an internist on the wards and in the ICU.
Quotes:
“Since this was a short-term mission, I felt that my biggest calling was to shape the young physicians who would be working in Kenya long after my departure…The first day that we rounded later into the afternoon, I lost track of time because we were having such great conversations. I realized my mistake and apologized for extending the work hours of an intern who was already greatly overworked. She immediately stopped me and said, “God bless you for sharing knowledge, I will stay as long as you keep teaching”. An intern in the US would NOT have this same attitude.”
“We both went into this experience with thoughts of working in a mission hospital setting one day, but had no concrete plans and had huge doubts about whether we were “good enough”, “strong enough”, “faithful enough” to work in such a demanding setting. I believe many physicians have these doubts and fears and end up not pursuing global medicine because they get mired down in the responsibilities of their jobs and are not able or willing to make a change mid-career. At Tenwek hospital we were reminded over and over again that we are acting in the name of The Great Physician, and not in our own names.”
“Meeting these people who are ostracized by their community was eye-opening. They were such caring individuals and were open to using their deformities to teach all of us students about the disease and how we can help our patients in the future.”
Intercambios, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Bonnie Stedge & Peyton Hanson, Emory University School of Medicine
Bonnie and Peyton originally planned to travel to Haiti, as part of an annual trip through their school’s Emory Haiti Alliance. However, this year the political situation in Haiti was extremely unstable. Ongoing anti-corruption protests escalated and made travel to Haiti unsafe. The violence was most serious in Port-au-Prince, the capital and location of the international airport. While Pignon, the location of the partner hospital, was relatively safe, there was no way to get there without flying through Port-au-Prince. The U.S. Department of State issued a Level 4: Do Not Travel warning for Haiti, which is the highest level travel warning, during the time we were planning the trip.
After much discussion with the surgeons, faculty, and team members in Atlanta as well as local partners, the team decided not to travel to Haiti this year. This was the first time in over a decade that we did not send a team to Haiti. However, due to connections with nonprofits in Puerto Rico, the team was able to go there instead to conduct community needs assessments as the island continues to recover from Hurricane Maria.
Quotes:
“Providing medical supplies, bandaging wounds, teaching about medications, and checking blood pressures are all valuable things to do. But I am convinced that the most valuable thing we did in Puerto Rico was go to people’s houses and listen to their stories. They told us we made them feel less forgotten, less abandoned. Listening to someone cry, hearing them, is one of the most important things we can do.
“Medical students who tend to have type A personalities, we are strongly inclined to do things: perform surgeries, deliver supplies, fix people’s problems. On this year’s trip we learned the importance of stepping back and listening to people in a community express their challenges, suffering, and hope.”
Tenwek Hospital, Bomet, Kenya
Justin Yoo, Duke University
Justin traveled to Tenwek Hospital and intended to stay for nearly 2 months. Unfortunately, the global COVID-19 pandemic cut this trip short to just 3 weeks. He remains extremely grateful for the experience and found so much to learn in his shortened time there.
Quotes:
“What has touched me the most and what I was most excited for was the way these doctors love their patients. We open each morning with song of praise and prayer, acknowledging that it is not our efforts alone that make results. And on every new overnight admissions, ICU and sick patients, the primary resident/intern prays at bedside after their presentation, and it rolls off their tongues like it is their primary language.
“My last week in Tenwek was amazing, as expected! A lot of twins in Kenya! What I have learned about myself is how much I may actually enjoy critical care, despite my preference to sit and think. The farewell in Kenya was sad, but I did get to maximize my last days there, feeding giraffes in Nairobi and recoup at the airport hotel. I did leave with a little more understanding of how global health may fit in my future career, and the importance in striving to be the best learners to be the best teachers. Cheers to lifelong learners!”
Highlights from 2018 Grantee Experiences
Hospital Loma de Luz, Balfate, Colon, Honduras
Emily Geerlings, University of Michigan Medical School
Over the past month at Hospital Loma de Luz, Emily injected joints, removed a skin tag, drained a shoulder abscess, participated in 5 vaginal births and 2 C-sections, learned to put in an umbilical line, removed a subclavian central line, assisted in both a thoracentesis and paracentesis, tookan overnight call, interpreted in Spanish for several visiting physicians, performed OB ultrasounds, and saw at least 100 outpatient visits.
Quotes- “I really struggled with the disparity of resources – not just in the hospital, but in the country at large – and with the immense wealth gap between myself and many of my patients.”
“we also agreed that it is IMPORTANT to us to live in the community that we serve, whether we are in another country or in the American inner city, since ministry is relational and usually requires living daily life with others, just like Jesus did.”
“While I still think that resources are over-used in the U.S., i am much more cognizant of the privilege of having a clear diagnosis (including access to a lab that can do bacterial cultures!) when treating an illness. Specialists and scans are a blessing that can easily go unrecognized.”
Gandaki Medical College, Pokhara, Nepal
Zabrina Ebert, Midwestern University Chicago College of Ostepathic Medicine
Zabrina had the opportunity to travel to Nepal to work alongside other students from around the world. They had a guide who accompanied them not only to the hospital but also into the community and to church. Through this guide they were able to be immersed in the culture and gain a better understanding of what the community valued and lived for. Zabrina was blown away by the kindness and openness to Christianity the people of Nepal were.
Quotes- “These people grew up in a completely different culture than I did but, yet we were one in the same.”
“The most beautiful moment I experienced was a trip to Green Pastures, a hospital in Nepal that takes care of patients with Leprosy.”
“Meeting these people who are ostracized by their community was eye-opening. They were such caring individuals and were open to using their deformities to teach all of us students about the disease and how we can help our patients in the future.”
Koyiaki Community Clinic, Narok, Kenya
Paul & Kate Abraham, UNC School of Medicine
This husband and wife team were able to travel to Central and South Asia with their 18-month in tow. They served primarily on the surgery and OB services whether they were in the hospital or at home visits. Thanks to other Christian families serving in the area, they were able to connect them to nannies to care for their daughter while they served.
Quotes- “Hearing stories of compassion fatigue as well as breakthroughs only God could have provided encouraged us in our faith and showed us how the medical field provides unique opportunities for ministry that need to be balanced with a healthy understanding of Sabbath rest and our identity in Christ alone.”
“We heard numerous stories of families whose lives were changed because of the radical love of providers willing to meet them in their homes. In one instance, the simple act of providing home hospice/palliative care for a patient with cancer led him to forgive those in his family who he held grudges against and to put his faith in Christ. His family was amazed at the transformation of his heart and began to inquire about the Jesus that their father had put his faith in during his last days. A house church now meets in his home.”
“We left the country reminded that we are immortal until God’s work for us on this Earth is done.”
Shirati KMT Hospital, Shirati, Tanzania
Andrew Peckham, Oregon Health and Science University
Andrew, along with his wife Jen and their 8-month old son Caleb traveled to Tanzania to serve alongside medical missionary Dr. Esther at Shirati KMT Hospital. The hospital is a 150-bed hospital that serves the local villlages.
Quotes- “From this experience and seeing what it was like to be so remote with limited resources, yet surrounded by treatable diseases, our hearts were filled with the desire to help the community.”
“We are currently working on a project proposal to screen for sickle cell disease in newborn children. Andy and a coworker, Luke, will return to Shirati in February 2019 to start a newborn screening program. From this, we hope that children will be diagnosed at birth and receive life-saving preventive treatment by Dr. Esther who plans to start a sickle cell clinic.”
Centro de Salud Lazaro, Oaxaca, Mexico
Chelsea Travers, University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine
Chelsea traveled to Oaxaca to work alongside Dra. Flora an OB/GYN at the Angel del Mar hospital, Dr. Kevin at Centro de Salud Lazaro, and a week at the Centro de Salud in Santa Maria where she got to hold daily health classes for women.
Quotes- “While speaking to a pharmacist at another clinic and my Spanish teacher, Romy, I learned that the rules are flexible for the poor. Many physicians would see the poor and not charge them and give them medications without documenting the visit. The opinion of Dr. Kevin and many of the physicians I spoke with was that this was only just for a government that does not take care of its citizens. This was exemplified in the many people on the streets, beaches, and restaurants approaching visitors begging for money or food. Although Dr. Kevin described this generosity coming from a place of frustration with an insensitive government, I could see that it also came from a place of genuine love and duty to the essence of medicine.”
“Following the class, I would ask the women to participate in my research. They all would happily participate after having laughed with me for an hour in class. Many of the women in this area did not feel comfortable reading the survey, so I would dictate the survey to them, which gave us a moment to discuss their answers to the questions. I found hearing about their lives in more depth than a multiple-choice answer to be far more rewarding.”
“Verses such as these serve as a constant reminder that the kingdom of heaven is the inheritance for the poor and oppressed and my duty as a physician will be to serve and advocate for patients in the same way that I saw the physicians in Mexico giving care and medicine to the many poor patients they encountered.”
HEODRA Hospita, León, Nicaragua
David Noyd, Oregon Health and Science University
David traveled to Nicaragua and brought along his wife and two young kids
as part of his pediatric residency program. They spent 8 weeks on this trip. He spent most of his time in León but he also visited La Mascota, the national children’s hospital in Managua (about a 90-minute journey on the bus).Quotes- “The experience in Nicaragua helped solidify [my] career interests in global pediatric cancer.”
“The management of status epilepticus and pneumonia felt routine; however, the nuances of fewer antibiotic and antiepileptic medications and, perhaps more striking, the inability to monitor for subclinical seizures or consult an expert pediatric neurologist fit the motif of my global health rotation of encountering familiar clinical situations and the adaptation of clinical management to the resources available.”
“I am extremely grateful for the support provided through Project Hope Northwest. The experience in Nicaragua was a great time of spiritual growth as well. God provided opportunities to pray specifically for patients and their families during difficult times of illness.”
Highlights from 2017 Grantee Experiences
Tenwek Hospital in Bomet, Kenya
Chelsea Reighard, University of Michigan Medical School
Chelsea worked with a team of three American missionary ophthalmologists, and a team of specialized nurses. Her role on the eye team was to screen patients’ vision, assess people for cataracts, and distribute eye drops for glaucoma and allergies. In addition to these jobs she also assisted in many surgeries.
Quotes– “The motto of Tenwek Hospital rings true throughout the entire compound (and of course applies my practice in the United States): “We Treat. Jesus Heals.”
“You just can’t escape the parallels between physical blindness and spiritual blindness.”
“I cannot restore vision to patients with advanced, irreversible eye disease. I can’t work independently as a physician or surgeon yet. HOWEVER, I can intercede for my patients with faith and perseverance with certainty that our Heavenly Father will provide for their needs well beyond my abilities.”
L’Hospital Baptiste Biblique and Hospital of Hope in Togo, West Africa
Emily Morgan, University of Michigan Medical School
Emily had the opportunity to rotate at two mission hospitals in Togo working in inpatient and outpatient settings.
Quotes– “Though limited resources will always be an issue as long as poverty prevails, I was reminded by this issue of the importance of communication with the global church. God has created senders and goers. If we forget to communicate the needs we have while on the front line, then our supporters will not know what needs need to be met. “
“Often when we had to tell people that there was nothing more we could offer them, it opened doors for us to share the gospel by explaining that although we are insufficient, our God is all-powerful and is able to overcome.”
“I have learned that we often do not know why illness occurs, or why we cannot save a physical life, but instead we must trust that God in his sovereignty has a plan for justice and can transform any situation to yield good, even if we are unable to see it in the moment.”
Koyiaki Community Clinic, Narok, Kenya
Jackline Muthoka, University of California Irvine School of Medicine
Jackline traveled throughout Kenya administering aid and performing ultrasounds.
Quote- “We had an amazing time in Kenya and would like to sincerely thank you for the financial support you provided my team & I.
We couldn’t have done it without your help!
Thank you for making summer 2017 the most memorable summer of my life! I was able to utilize my God given talents in areas I am most passionate in- serving the undeserved communities around the world. I am grateful that you were part of all this work, may God continue to bless you abundantly!”
Karanda Mission Hospital, Zimbabwe
Julia Bedard, University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix
Julia traveled to Zimbabwe to work in the operating room, where she assisted with procedures ranging from VP shunt insertions to exploratory laparotomies to femur fixations. She closed incisions so the surgeon could begin another case or see patients in ‘clinic’- a line at the back door of the surgery building. She also rounded on surgical patients and saw pathology that she could have only read about in textbooks.
Quotes-
“In Africa, I was profoundly aware of the brokenness around me, including corruption, material poverty, malaria, dirty water, babies with Kwashiorkor, families devastated by AIDS, and so much more. Being confronted with this reality reflected the brokenness inside of me. I realized my own feelings of superiority in thinking that I had so much to offer these people. In reality, they had so much more to ‘offer me.”
“During my time at Karanda Mission Hospital, I had a sense that I was right where I was supposed to be. This experience was challenging, and there were moments where I felt overwhelmed and out of place, but I felt the peace of God and a strong sense of purpose.”
Restoration Gateway, Uganda
Ryan and Leah Buse, Sanford School of Medicine
Ryan and Leah had the opportunity to serve along side Restoration Gateway through encouraging and supporting local missionaries, providing medical care and evaluating the infant part of the orphanage.
Quotes-
“The poison of Paternalism. So easy to just do things for people rather than teach them.”
“We were able to teach CPR to Freshmen and also play volleyball and soccer.”
“One of the most enjoyable parts of our trip was seeing the kids open up and reading Jesus Storybook Bible at night.”
Kiwoko Hospital in Uganda
Stephanie Peace, University of Missouri School of Medicine
Stephanie traveled to Uganda to help support women who are HIV+ who receive treatment at the hospital.
Quotes-
“I learned so much from my month in Kiwoko: how to make decisions in a low-resource setting, how to manage diseases of poverty/tropical diseases like malnutrition and malaria, and how to rely on God when things are challenging.”
“God is doing great work through the staff at Kiwoko Hospital and I was blessed to be apart of it this past month. This experience would not have been possible without your generous support.”
Highlights from 2016 Grantee Experiences
World Medical Mission-Togo, American Baptist International-Congo & CURE 
International
Freeland Ackley of Baylor University
Freeland traveled to Togo, Congo, and Kenya to help with Orthopedic Surgery. The highlight of his trip to Kenya was spending time at Naomi’s Village, and orphanage that doesn’t focus on adoption but rather raising them up to be advocates for the orphan epidemic and other local problems in their country. His time in Togo and Congo were spent performing orthopedic surgeries where the local hospital had never performed those surgeries.
Quotes–
“ I found myself in new uncharted territory, completely reliant upon His power and grace.”
Stories-
I was able to do around 20-25 surgeries while at Vanga [Congo] and a lot of teaching to the residents and new physicians. Communication at times was difficult as everyone spoke French but the Lord provided translators and with a lot of pointing and grunting it was an overall success.
The take away for me in the face of insurmountable poverty, infection and lack of resources was that He isn’t asking me to do more, be more or create more from nothing, He’s asking me to bring what I have and trust Him to do the rest.
Floating Doctors Bocas del Toro, Panama
Nathan Jasperse, UC Irvine School of Medicine
Nathan traveled to Panama to provide free medical care to indigenous Ngobe communities. His knowledge of Spanish allowed him to translate for many of the volunteers who did not speak Spanish.
Quotes–
“This trip was a life-impacting experience that has solidified my thinking about the patient populations with which I desire to work in the future and the way that I desire to incorporate my faith into my practice as a physician.”
Stories–
Another aspect of clinic days for me was ultrasound scanning. As a member of a team of students from UC Irvine School of Medicine that were working with Floating Doctors this summer, I was involved in three research projects involving ultrasound. These involved both the scanning of patients and the teaching of local healthcare workers the basics of ultrasound. Many patients present to Floating Doctors clinics and require ultrasound scans as part of their standard of care and therefore, I, as one of the few providers who possessed scanning skills, was called upon to scan many patients above and beyond those involved in our research. Scanning was a great opportunity to not only improve my ultrasound skills but also to further interact with patients.
Lusaka Eye Hospital, Zambia
Cameron Lee of Loma Linda University
Cameron traveled to Zambia to help out at the Lusaka Eye hospital where he assisted in corneal transplants and small incision cataract surgery.
Quotes–
“My last week in Zambia, I had the chance to share the message for two of the morning devotionals that all the staff attend before the working day starts. I talked about 1 Corinthians 13 and the fact that no matter what we do or how we think we’re serving God, if we don’t have love we are nothing.”
Stories–
Many of the patients are overjoyed to have their vision improved through cataract surgery, with some patients even effusively shouting, “God bless you!” to the ophthalmologist who performed the surgery.
Rumginae Hospital, Papua New Guinea
Gloria Lee, Texas Tech University
Gloria traveled to Papua New Guinea to spend six weeks in a rural village located in the jungles of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea working at The Rumginae Hospital and Community Health Worker School (CHW).
Quotes–
“I am quickly realizing that 6 weeks, although feels long, is not very much time to learn a new culture, fully engage with the community, learn about spiritual needs, and to learn how to effectively care for patients in this setting.”
Stories–
There is a generator that powers the hospital for 24 hours, the rest of Rumginae has limited access to electricity, which runs from 8am-12pm and then from 5 pm-10pm each day. Because we have had several unexpected late-night operations going past 10pm the past week, I’ve taken quite a few showers in the dark with my trusty flashlight as my only source of light. The geckoes that line the walls of our house at night and the multitude of insects have required a bit of an adjustment as well. But the Lord has brought me to a sweet place of depending on him as I am being taken out of my comfort zone.
I have been amazed at how resourceful the staff is in making a few resources go a long way. For example, spinal needles are used only once in the US and then discarded. Here, they are sterilized and re-used a few times before being thrown away. This is especially helpful because spinal anesthetics are often used for operations instead of general anesthetics and thus spinal needles are used frequently.
Highlights from 2015 Grantee Experiences
Mbingo Baptist Hospital in Mbingo, Cameroon
Emily Weimer with Oregon Health and Sciences University
Emily traveled with general surgeon Dr. Snell and his wife to Mbingo, Cameroon, staying in the home of missionaries and served time in obstetric or a gynecology clinic.
Quotes–
“Morbidity and mortality is a daily reminder of how imperfect medicine is, especially in a relatively resource-poor setting.”
“Every case is a challenge and complications abound. How then was I to gain the confidence I needed to learn to care for women? The answer became obvious. God challenged me, “Did I bring you here to perform out of your own strength? Be still and know that I am God.”
“I felt disappointed because I expected to be great, but in the end I was only me. I can never be better than me. But God is great.”
Medical Elective/Clerkship in Global Health in Tacloban, Philippines
Jason Toews with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Jason traveled to Tacloban, Phillippines for a two month clerkship in Global Health, while focusing a lot of time in seeing how life after the 2013 typhoon, Haiyan, destroyed the area.
Quotes–
The town’s new official slogan is “every day is a better day in Tanauan”.
Stories–
One interesting program at the hospital was for rehabilitation of malnourished children. The program was funded by UNICEF. One mother brought in her infant who was obviously starving to death, and told us that she had been feeding him exclusively watered-down rice water since birth. The program pays for children like this to stay in the hospital until they are deemed rehabilitated enough to return home. The problem is, the issue almost undoubtedly recurred when the patient went home. The family only earns a dollar or so a day and has eleven other children to feed. Even the parents were subsisting off just rice. It’s a rough world when you don’t have resources. I suppose that is the moral of this story.
Tenwek Mission Hospital/ Mango Baptist Mission Hospital in Kenya/Togo
John Donkersloot of University of Michigan Medical School
John traveled to Kenya and Togo to work in two separate hospitals to partaking in both clinic work and surgical service.
Quotes–
After a while the question ceases to be a “Why?”, but a “How long, O Lord? How long?” And at times the questions progress to “How can God exist?” This line of questioning leads to the abyss.
It is a grave mistake to think that suffering is consigned to the physical. Anyone who has seen the long, slow decline of a loved one knows this to be true. The questions of “Why” are sometimes answerable in a physical sense…But in the metaphysical, spiritual sense, the questions are much more difficult. “Why me? Why the 18 year old boy?” These types of questions are not answered; these types of questions are journeyed through. It is this journeying process that the PAACS residents are being disciplined through every single week through the example of the consultants, regular blue book meetings, and regular Bible studies.
The heart of the people who work here is truly awe-inspiring. Everyone has left friends and family to serve in the heat here in Mango. And one finds that every single person has such a critical role to keeping a major part of the Mission’s work here at Mango, from the maintenance men to the nurses to the financial gurus to the physicians. More than anything this reminds me of the body of Christ, which is the church: many parts doing their role to serve collectively as the hands and feet of Christ to a very needy, hurting, and broken world.
Read more at jdinkenyatogo.blogspot.com
Bolivia at Child Family Health International
Judithe Paulius, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
Judithe is a fourth year medical student who traveled to La Paz, Bolivia to spend four weeks at both a children’s hospital and an adolescent clinic.
Quotes–
It has been wonderful being immersed in a different culture and learning so many new things. I know that this rotation has given me plenty of things to think about. It is so important to be culturally competent as well as medically competent (especially as a Family Medicine doc!) because the world is quickly becoming more and more diverse.
Stories–
A 2 year old girl born with a cleft lip. Her story is pretty sad. She was abandoned by her mom once she saw her deformity. The baby would later develop pneumonia then sepsis and she had to be on a mechanical ventilator. The doctors had trouble weaning her off so she ended up getting a tracheostomy to help her breathe. She has been in the hospital for most of her life, but she gets lots of support from the hospital staff. She has lots of clothes and toys that were donated to her too, and she was affectionately given the nickname ‘la dueña del hospital’ (the owner of the hospital). She is my favorite patient in the unit- her face lights up when she smiles and she gets happy when we visit her.
Read more at jpaulheb111.wordpress.com