And a lot of hard work
Two hours ago our IT department presented us the newest figures: up until the 4th September 2018 313,568 patient visits have been recorded at the Hospital Diospi Suyana. In the missionary hospital’s first year (2007-2008) 18,000 visits were recorded. For this calendar year we expect roughly 50,000 people looking for medical help. Since 2008, when we started performing operations, our surgical colleagues have performed 10,940 medical interventions.
Over the past 11 years the range of what the missionary hospital can offer has steadily increased. It now has the following departments: internal medicine, paediatrical medicine, general surgery, traumatology, urology, gynaecology, obstetrics, vascular surgery, odontology, ophthalmology, physiotherapy, an orthopaedic workshop, in the gastroenterology field an endoscopic surgery and a radiology department with x-ray, radiography and ultrasound.
Our patients have come from all of Peru’s 25 states and some have even crossed the border from Bolivia. Several thousand have travelled from distant Lima, the Peruvian Capital, to Curahuasi. Percentage-wise Quechua-Indians continue to make up the biggest patient-group. In Peru bad teeth and wearing shoes made from old car tyres are signs of poverty. The patients pay roughly 30% of the real costs of their respective treatment.
And who covers the remaining 70%? A thousand donors support the hospital on a monthly basis. Roughly 60 missionaries – supported financially by a circle of friends – work at Diospi Suyana and many companies based both in Peru and across the globe support us by donations in kind.
We thank God for this unique model that has worked for more than a decade. It goes without saying that we also thank all our friends across the globe. /KDJ
