Breakthrough Maternal/Child Health Grant from Ronald McDonald House Charities
As you all know, we’ve spent two decades working to improve medical care for Ecuador’s rural poor. And recently, this work and commitment earned a $1.5 million grant from Ronald McDonald House Charities® (RMHC®).
This remarkable award validates the hard work of everyone in this organization, specifically because Andean Health is one of only four organizations to receive one of these prized global grants. This grant will help us specifically address maternal and newborn health services in Santo Domingo and the surrounding provinces. With this RMHC grant, Hesburgh Hospital will now:
- connect to a network of rural facilities led by AHD residency program graduates
- strengthen maternal and newborn services at those rural sites
- educate women and their families about pregnancy and warning signs of complications
- develop a triage system
- establish telemedicine infrastructure with partner organizations
We began implementing the program last September. Since then, Hesburgh Hospital’s doctors have safely delivered over forty babies each month. Funding from the grant will dramatically expand the hospital’s capacity through 2019. By then, we plan to sustain the program through our regular operations.
We are all very grateful and appreciative of this powerful vote of confidence from this prestigious organization. RMHC Global Grants Program has dramatically impacted health care throughout the world, with a focus on reducing maternal and child mortality in Africa, South Asia, and Latin America.
Earlier funding from RMHC expanded AHD’s rural family physician residency program and created a state-of-the-art medical simulation center at Hesburgh Hospital. We truly value their partnership.
And we value yours! Your support over the past 20 years has led us to this very exciting moment. Without the infrastructure you helped to create, this grant never would have happened. It is a tremendous endorsement of Andean Health’s important work.
Thank you for making high quality care possible for the mothers and babies of Ecuador.
While this RMHC grant allows us to further our work in maternal/child health, we still need your support to continue our greater mission of training health care leaders and providing medical care to Ecuador’s underserved.