The city of Santa Ana in El Salvador is well known for its production of coffee. It is similarly renowned as an area with difficult socio-economic conditions and limited access to medical services.
Three Ob Hospitalist Group (OBHG) team members and one OBHG family member went abroad in November to serve with a team of volunteers for HOPE worldwide on a medical mission trip to Santa Ana. OBHG’s team included Dr. Kudzai Dombo, Dr. James Barber, Dr. Barber’s son Jason and OBHG Recruiter Brooke Elliott.
During a two-day span, the mission team saw over 200 patients, providing medical, dental and counseling care. They also distributed vitamins and medications. The trip featured HOPE worldwide’s first women’s health forum with over 100 women in attendance. Dr. Barber presented information that helped educate women about issues such as breast care and menopause. Dr. Dombo presented to the pre-teens/teens of the communities about menstrual cycles, health body image and overall wellness. For some of the women, this was their first time to have access to a doctor providing these services.
“It felt like the amount of gratitude and appreciation expressed to us by everyone far outweighed anything we did for the patients,” said Dr. Dombo. “I wish there was more we could have done.”
OBHG’s mission to elevate the standard of care for women and babies expands beyond our national footprint. We support our clinicians and non-clinical employees in providing healthcare and support services to women in need across the U.S. and the globe. Our passion for people and helping those in need has inspired many of our employees to serve on medical missions in impoverished regions. OBHG provides medical mission trip opportunities throughout the year. Many OBHG clinicians say they return from these trips with an increased sense of purpose in caring for patients.