The "Ber" months have arrived, September, October and November. In Manila that means it is Christmas. The Local grocery store, Shop Wise where we shop occasionally, is decked with fake Christmas trees complete with all the trimming. Light, ribbons, tinsel, and ornaments with lots of glitz are prominently placed at the front of the store to tempt all the shoppers as they stand in the check out ques waiting their turn to pay. We have even heard Christmas music played at the Mall. It's a little early for me to think about Christmas, and the weather is hardly convincing me that Winter is on it's way. Last night as we were heading home from church the temp registered 86 but my cell phone indicated it feels like 101 because of the humidity.
We had a busy week which started with a meeting with Dr. Bautista and members of his staff. We are talking of partnering on a Neonatal project. We drove downtown to Philippines General Hospital, arriving 30 minutes late. We started our trek at 8 am for a 10 o'clock meeting, and we were late. Remember, we are in the same city. We did not have to drive a long distance. Fortunately, the Soleta's were there on time so we told them to start the meeting without us.
When we found the right building but we had a bit of a challenge finding a parking place. One way streets and motor trikes heading the wrong way made locating a spot particularly difficult. Fortunately, Elder Webb is exceptionally skilled in parallel parking. He maneuvered his way into a space that left the hind bumper touching the car behind us and 6 inches to the car in front of us. The parking attendant who came running from several hundred feet away shook his head saying over and over, very small parking space. It was so small Norriss actually had to go back and forth a number of time before the car was secured in an acceptable way. This is a man who seldom is challenged by parallel parking.
We walked to the campus which is shared by University of the Philippines and Philippines General Hospital. The University is a medical school and the interns work at the hospital. This is a public hospital and the budget is stretch to the limit. It is clean and does not have a chemical smell, but there is not service like we are use to.
First of all, there is a line of people waiting outside the hospital for their name to be called.
Once a person is admitted, they wait in an examination room to be seen by an attending physician.
We stood in the hall waiting for someone from Dr. Bautista's office to come fetch us. We could see into the exam rooms. Each had two beds in the room one on each side. The rooms were separated by curtains. As we stood waiting I happened to look back at the room just behind us. The curtain had a gap up one side and I was surprised by what I saw. We had passed this exam room on our way to this spot and I saw a woman sitting on the edge of the bed to the right. The next picture is what I saw on the other bed. That's right, this person didn't make it out of the examination room. The body has been wrapped and is waiting for family to come pick it up. There is no one to attend to needs like this. Families are responsible to provide food, medicines that are needed, sheets, towels, toilet paper and help as needed by the patient, including removal of bodies.
This is a government hospital for the general public. The staff is stretched to the limit. They are doing the very best they can.
Sorry about this pose, but I was trying to not be obvious as I took pictures in the hospital. This is a picture of family helping a patient. This woman does not have a bed. Her family member holds the IV while she tries to eat food that has been brought for her.
You may notice that the bed in the room behind the patient in the chair is being shared by two women.
We waited about 15 minutes and then our guide arrived. We
were taken to Dr. Bautista and introduced. We were offered Lunch since it was now close to 11 am
which allowed us time to meet staff members as well as visit with Dr. Bautista. He is an impressive man. He told us, how many of the staff members use their own money to help with supplies for the patients especially children.
When we finished lunch we were given a tour of the hospital. We were shown the women's clinic that has been remodeled. Compared to the hospital this clinic is the Ritz. The facility is able to handle 6 deliveries at a time with a labor room and a recovery room for added support. It seems there is no money in the budget for Administration of the clinic. So the building just sits. Dr. told us their plan was to have interns from the medical school work there under the supervision of one doctor. With such tremendous need it is so sad to see this beautiful place sit unused. Everything was considered except the administration. That would fall under the hospital and there is simply no extra money. Below you will see some of the rooms from the center.
This is the outside of the health care center. Elder and Sister Webb on the left, Dr. Bautista in the center and Elder and Sister Soleta on the right. Here we discuss possible solutions and ideas. Even the dreams of doctor Bautista.
Next we were taken to the Neonatal ICU. This is an area in the hospital reserved for high risk new borns. We were ushered in, given gowns and allowed to make our way. I took time to visit each station, talking with little ones who were awake. They were responsive to my voice looking in the direction of the sounds I made. They were so tiny and precious. Several babies cried and it was very hard for me not to at least try to comfort them. It made me cry to think there was no one there to cuddle or comfort these little people when there cried. The nurses are amazing, they give as much attention to the children as they can. They even make eye coverings for the babies who are under lights for jaundice treatment. There are no new supplies in the budget. What is considered disposable equipment in the U.S. is washed and used again and again. Tubing for oxygen is sterilized and reused again. Infant hats are donated sometimes, but mostly unavailable. They do accept donations of mothers milk which they sterilize and then feed the babies. Dr. Bautista said the infant care is good, but they loose little ones due to infections. It is impossible to keep the ICU sterile
. The ICU is equipped with supplies and staff to care for 40 at risk infants, there were 66 registered at the time these pictures were taken. You can see that incubators and light therapy must be shared. Three or four babies to an incubator is normal. In the U.S. there are restrictions that required a certain distance each child is kept from another in the nursery.
You may be asking yourself, what are they Webb's doing at this hospital in the first place. The Church Welfare system is involved in providing aid to those in need. LDS Charities have partnered with other NGO's to build Women's clinics or equipped them with need supplies or equipment. This gives woman health care outside metro areas; areas closer to their remote homes and communities. Woman who live miles from a hospital have died as they tried to reach hospital when they are in labor.
We look for ways to lift the burdens of those who are so poor. This is just one of many projects in which the Church is involved. We are privileged to be called to work with people like Dr. Bautista and the Soletas.
We love you all,
Elder and Sister Webb
