Today patients began arriving at the hospital, some as early as 3am. The inner courtyard of the hospital quickly filled with patients and family members as they patiently waited to be screened by our pediatricians and surgical staff.
Local high school Interact (young Rotarians) volunteers kept some of the children busy while they waited to be seen in the clinic.
Once the families and patients enter the clinic, Rotaplast volunteers assist them in filling out the necessary documents. Pictured below is Marina Adrianzen, one of our volunteers who is bilingual in Spanish and English. Here she is helping a mother fill out her child’s intake forms. Most of our patients do not speak English and some cannot write in Spanish, making this step extremely challenging and time consuming for all involved.
Below Silvana Ayuso, the local Rotarian President and Elaine Kubota, one of our anesthesiologists, work together to examine a patient and determine whether or not he has any medical conditions that could preclude him from surgery. It is important for the anesthesiologists, surgeons and pediatricians to all examine the patients in order to fully understand the full history of each patient and obtain the necessary health information. The type of questions asked and information obtained by each of the specialists varies slightly. The full picture comes together once they all examine the patient and talk to the family.
Below are a few more picture of some of the patients as they wait to be seen in the clinic.