Blanca’s House will be publishing a Virtual Journal to advertise businesses and/or offer congratulatory messages to our honorees.  The slide presentation is broadcast all night during the Gala.  If you are interested or know of anyone wanting to advertise their business during the Gala, please contact vsimpson@blancashouse.com; subject line: Virtual Journal.   Each advertisement/message is $50.00 and must be in jpeg format and is to be submitted prior to April 1, 2012. As always, 100% of all proceeds from our fundraisers go towards future mission needs.

PRESS RELEASE

More than a dozen doctors, nurses and technicians from John T. Mather Memorial Hospital joined a recent humanitarian mission to Playas, Ecuador to provide free surgical services to children and adults.

A team of 61 volunteers from Mather and other Long Island hospitals traveled to Ecuador last month with Blanca’s House and completed 119 adult and pediatric surgeries including hernia repairs, GYN procedures, thyroid surgeries, cleft palates, cleft lips and burn revisions. There was no cost to the patients, who otherwise would not have had access to these services.

“We leave our jobs and families behind to travel for one week to provide care for the less fortunate. In that small time period we change lives!” said Kerry O’Sullivan, RN, a Mather nurse who has been on several other missions with Blanca’s House. “These trips are some of the best life experiences you can have. We bring a little piece of our patients home with us and we leave a bit of ourselves behind for them.”

Blanca’s House is a non-profit organization of volunteer healthcare professionals who donate their time to provide free, invaluable medical treatment to children and their families who would otherwise have no access to modern health care. Whether through surgery, medical supplies, or educational outreach, Blanca’s House provides 21st Century medicine to the underprivileged. The organization was founded by Galo Burbano, chief nurse anesthetist for Long Island Nurse Anesthetists, a practice that provides anesthetists for Mather and other Long Island hospitals.

John T. Mather Memorial Hospital is an accredited 248-bed, non-profit community hospital dedicated to providing a wide spectrum of high quality healthcare services to

Suffolk County residents, showing compassion and respect and treating each patient in the manner we would wish for our loved ones.

Photo Caption: Pictured are Dr. Mildred Garcia, hospital medicine; Dr. Michael Arato OB/GYN; Virgina Manislugan, PACU RN; Kerry O’Sullivan, ER RN; Keith Ramdeen, ER Medical Assistant; Dr. Stephen Coccaro , Plastics; Galo Burbano, CRNA (Blanca’s House founder); Stephanie Shapiro ICU RN; Dr. Mitchell Saunders, Cardiology; Kelly Dunn, ICU RN; Tashanna Adams, ICU RN; Dr. Salim Matar, ENT; and Julio Villamar, OR Tech.

When we all awoke this Monday morning, we couldn’t believe this mission in Playas, Ecuador is almost over.  There was so much hard work and behind-the-scenes planning by many of our relentless and dedicated team members to make this all happen. Galo and Robyn know without all the assistance of others, we could not make this, or any, mission possible.

This morning we allowed some of our team members to stay back and catch up on some much needed rest. While others still needed to make rounds and discharge patients. We had several members  travel to the hospital to pack up our precious supplies in order to be ready for our next mission. As soon as everything is loaded on our bus, we will be off to our hotel in Guayaquil where we all look forward to relaxation time and maybe a little shopping. Tonight will be our last dinner together as a team….we all look forward debriefing, chatting, and a great big deep breath as we reflect on our success. We extend a big “THANK YOU!” to our most generous doctors who always treat us to this evening on every mission.  We always appreciate their generosity.

We are now off to the airport and back to our “other” lives.  Each of us takes back many wonderful memories of how many lives we touched and changed forever.

The operating rooms have been buzzing, as well as all other areas of the hospital.  When you have a moment to reflect on what is occurring in only four days, you  want to/need to complete as many cases before we end this and every day. Passion drives you to help treat as many patients are you can.  Winding up the day’s work late into the evening, the team heads back to the hotel to eat and get some much-needed rest.

Monday is the wind-up day.  Some of the team members head back to hospital for their final rounds and patient discharges, along with packing up the equipment for the trip home. Once done, the entire team will head back to Guayaquil.  A day of relaxation and closing ceremonies highlight the time before we head home on Tuesday.

Once again, as the team arrived to work at the Hospital, the team was greeted by so many new faces hoping to be helped by one of our doctors. As the rhythm of day has been established, the surgeries are getting started earlier each day in order to increase the number of people they can medically treat.  The medical staff has consistently praised the junior and adult volunteers for their amazingly efficient coordination of assisting the doctors and nurses.

Since our arrival in Ecuador, the IT department has been humming….. making all our paperwork  processing and charting look effortless.  THANK YOU, EVAN!

In the morning, donated toys, stuffed animals, and clothing were taken out to the hospital’s courtyard. Happy and surprised children lined up with smiles on their faces while some of our team members handed out these precious items.

HEALTHCARE: GOING GLOBAL

Valerie, Galo and Robyn were invited to speak at the TEDx La Jolla event on September 17, 2011. The invitation is a great honor…only a select few are asked to participate.

TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share their  ’big ideas. ‘  At the TEDxLaJolla event, TEDTalks videos and live speakers  combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group.

Thursday evening, the team returned to the hotel extremely late from the  Hospital Cantonal General Villamil.   The medical team attempted to do as  many cases as were possible on our 1^st day of surgery. At the same time, the team finished setting up everything brought with them on the plane.  After a very long day, some team members stayed up to eat and unwind while others went straight to their rooms to get some much needed rest.

Before we all knew it, the alarm went off in our hotel rooms at  5:00am to get ready for the 6:00 am breakfast; “easy” to do when everyone  loves the food here in Ecuador. Our bus was waiting for us after breakfast….returning the team to the hospital where so many hopeful patients are waiting.   Every day we arrive at the hospital, the families start to cheer with  smiles on their faces, as we exit the bus.  Seeing these faces makes starting our day so much more pleasant and with renewed purpose.  First order of business is rounds by the surgeons in the Psst Op area.  Reviewing patients’ progress form the day before’s surgeries, patients are discharged as needed.  Simultaneously, new patients are medically screened for scheduling surgeries today or tomorrow.

The rhythm of a working-together team is starting to buzz…

As soon as the rest of the team arrived, off to the hospital and  right to work setting up for all the many patients to come. We were greeted by so many patients and families; waiting and hoping we will be able to help each of them in some way. Within a few hours, the entire team had this tiny hospital ready to start surgeries on several patients. It has been a long 2 days, but no one seems to mind. We are all so very happy to help any way we can.