mobile health unit
WOFKC Former Board member Ed Tumanut, with Eddie Kennison, discussing the Mobile Health Unit and the WOFKC GOlf Tournament
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How do you bring healthcare to those in need?
Rural areas in the Philippines are often miles from the nearest hospital or clinic. The nature of the terrain and the fact that the country itself is made up of thousands of islands, makes accessing affordable, effective heatlhcare very difficult for many Filippinos. WOFKC set up the Mobile Health Unit as a solution to bring medical care to those communities directly. Our medical missions launched from the US are able to help many people in a short period of time, but we were looking for an additional way to help on an ongoign basis. In addition, we wanted to be able to help many different communities more frequently. The result is the mobile healhtcare and surgical unit, based in the Philippines. The vehicle is a converted tourist bus outfitted with surgical and medical spplies and equipment donated from the US. The unit travels the country, staffed by local Filippino physicians and medical staff to bring surgical care, clinics and health education programs across the country. It costs $1.72 on average to treat a patient in the health unit. The mobile unit costs $2500 per quarter to run. Every donation of $100 allows the unit to care for 58 patients. |