Meet The Team

All of the Medical and Non-Medical volunteers pose for a photo outside of Adventist Hospital, which was established in 1956 as H. W. Miller Memorial Sanitarium and Hospital.

It’s All In A Day’s Work

Anesthesiologist Srikanthan Kandasamy, OR Nurse Victoria Slama and Surgeon Todd Farnworth consult with an interpreter and a patient.

After patients are photographed with their file, they visit the friendly folks at Vital Signs. Lead PACU Nurse Ligaya Agustin, PACU Nurse Aaron Woolman, PACU Assistant Patti Workman and Assistant Mission Director Sangita Seshadri take a time-out for a photo op.

This large fan is making its way up 5 stories via ramps to cool down waiting families in the ward.

Historian Debi Friedmann takes a photo that will accompany the patients file throughout the process.

Staying Safe

A huge thank you to cue for sponsoring Rotaplast missions. Cue’s COVID-19 Diagnostic Test delivers lab-quality results, including the detection of emerging variants for COVID‑19. Cue provides tests to world-class organizations like Johns Hopkins Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Google, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and Major League Baseball (MLB), among many others.

Infection Control Officer Arzoo Salami, MD explained how these molecular tests work and why they are superior to antigen testing. Cue’s molecular test matched central lab results with 97.8% accuracy in an independent study by Mayo Clinic.

Bob and Arzoo keep the families moving smoothly through the COVID testing phase.

The “Why”

Making The Mold

Volunteers from the Philippine Dental Association are on hand to create obturators (see example, inset) for patients who didn’t qualify for cleft palate surgery.

By mixing alginate (also known as diatomaceous earth) with water, an impression of the palate is made in order for an obturator to be constructed.

This patient was too old to qualify for surgery, as his palate had already grown past the point of repair. Although surgery is not in his future, Rotaplast takes a mold and provides the patient with an obturator, a device to be inserted in the mouth to aid with speech and block the opening into the nasal cavity.

Clowning Around

The mission wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable without the flavor of local Rotarians. Alex Entrada kept us all well fed and entertained with his vibrant and kind personality.

Liza Rago was a wonderful help translating between the Historian and the families to get a great photo for the medical charts. These fun straws did the trick with getting the kids to cooperate.

Say Hello To The Lingos

The Lingos are one of the rare families that lives only 30 minutes from the hospital. Mother Joan, Baby Aldrich, Father and Sister Ana waited together in the ward before COVID testing.

Big Sister Ana was seen carrying her brother around, bouncing him up and down to settle him.

Ana rarely left her brother’s side during Pre-Clinic waiting.

 

Aldrich stays calm for his COVID swab.

Getting a good photo with the patient number and face was a piece of cake for Aldrich.

PACU Nurse Aaron Woolman gets Aldrich’s vitals.

Aldrich has a consultation with the doctors to see if he is a candidate for surgery. He is only 5 months old and typically 6 months is the youngest for qualifying for surgery.

The translator explains that even though Aldrich is only 5 months old, his weight is good and his health is good to withstand the anesthesia and the surgery. Aldrich is approved for surgery…stay tuned!

At The End Of Day Two Of Pre-Clinic…

…34 smiles were seen.