With coronavirus infections continuing to spread in both the United States and Bolivia, our in-person professional training and mentoring through mission trips is currently paused. It is heartbreaking to be unable to work alongside our Bolivian partner surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses. Much of their work is also on hold, as non-urgent surgeries and other healthcare services are barred while the health sector focuses its resources on controlling the COVID outbreak.

As in the U.S., when hospitals and surgery centers re-open to elective procedures, there will be a backlog of patients needing care. Given that the patients we serve in Bolivia often have to postpone their surgeries even in the best of times, we anticipate many patients in urgent need of attention. At the same time, they will have even fewer financial resources to cover their medical expenses after being unable to work due to Bolivia’s strict quarantine measures.

For our mission teams, travel to Bolivia may not be possible for many months. Fortunately, the four year-round surgical programs at the heart of our mission, are locally managed and operated by our partners at Puente de Solidaridad and doctors and hospitals throughout Bolivia. But in today’s setting, our partners will need an influx of funds, equipment and supplies to meet the expected demand for surgical care.

To help meet those needs, a 40-foot shipping container departed Springfield, Illinois, this month, carrying 15,856 pounds of medical donations. These supplies will be delivered to our warehouse in Cochabamba, Bolivia, for use in our surgical programs, distribution to our partner hospitals, and direct material support for patients.

This is our fifth container shipment to Bolivia over the past ten years. As requested by our Bolivian partners, we prioritized durable equipment, including modern operating room tables, EEG monitors, radiology equipment, endoscopic tools, neurosurgery drills and accessories, and others. Preparations for this container started several months before the pandemic, but were complicated by closed borders and the quarantine. Despite the challenges, we are overjoyed to see its launch and believe its arrival should be well-timed to help fill needs when healthcare services open again in the country.

We are especially indebted to our container partner, Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach (HSMO), for expertly shepherding us through this massive effort. The majority of equipment and supplies on this shipment were gathered by HSMO through their network of hospital and corporate donors from throughout the Midwest. HSMO also managed the documentation and performed the actual container loading at their Springfield warehouse. Several hospitals, companies, and private physicians also contributed directly, including Rush University Medical Center, Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center, Nihon Kohden, Dr. George Lederhaas, Dr. John Gregory, Dr. Gay. Garrett, and many others.

Finally, we add a special shout-out of gratitude for our incredible office volunteers who contributed hundreds of hours of inventory and packing work over the past several months. They include: Mike Cantor, Mariangela Duarte, Guna Kondapaneni, Jean O’Keefe, Katrina Swanson, Sally Arden, and others, overseen by office staff including Christi De Jong, Debbie Winarski, Martha Huffman, and the rest of the Solidarity Bridge team.

Now join our prayers for calm seas!

Critical Equipment Sets Sail