8.03.2005
Hospital San Carlos – town of Altamirano, state of Chiapas – Southern Mexico
(Click on any picture to enlarge)A NYYM Friend visited Altamirano, and Hospital San Carlos in January 1997.
The state of Chiapas, the poorest in Mexico, is located in the south, near the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas, and the Guatemalan border. The region has a primarily Mayan population. Following the armed Zapatista-led uprising in December 1994, the area was a target of government retaliation, resulting in direct casualties and in disruption
Doctors who treat patients are recruited from medical schools in Mexico City. Doctors and nurses on temporary rotations are also provided by Doctors Without Borders International (France) and Doctors of the World, Inc. (USA).
Some 15,000 people in 106 communities in northeast Chiapas, Mexico, are receiving health care through San Carlos Hospital in a small town called Altamirano. The hospital staff are headed by Sister Maite Tomasina, of the Catholic Order: ‘Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul’. The main convent is in Mexico City, and is in charge of the administration and operations of Hospital San Carlos. The sponsoring charity organization for the Hospital as well as other health projects in Mexico, is recognized by the USA IRS* and is named: Fundación de Obras Sociales San Vicente, IAP.
The hospital, opened in 1967, on land donated by a family of Mexican Quakers, provides culturally competent care for local citizens, including the descendants of ancient Mayans, with a full-time staff of interpreters that speak Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Tojolabal, Chol and Mam.
Valley near Altamirano, behind San Carlos HospitalMain Street, Altamirano, Chiapas.
Because San Carlos doesn’t receive government funds, even poor patients have to pay something, usually what they can afford. The hospital houses patients’ visiting family members in the guesthouse and allows them to pay off bills by working in the hospital.
Girls that are refugees from villages overrun by violence and starvation are trained as nurses’ assistants and live in a separate quarters on the hospital property, they can go as they please and find work as nurses or medical technicians after their training.
A shy boy rides along with his mother to San Carlos
A young girl waits with her mother and brother at San Carlos.
The state of Chiapas, the poorest in Mexico, is located in the south, near the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas, and the Guatemalan border. The region has a primarily Mayan population. Following the armed Zapatista-led uprising in December 1994, the area was a target of government retaliation, resulting in direct casualties and in disruption of food production and consequent malnutrition and starvation.
Some 15,000 people in 106 communities in northeast Chiapas, Mexico, are receiving health care through San Carlos Hospital in a small town called Altamirano. The hospital staff are headed by Sister Maite Tomasina, of the Catholic Order: ‘Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul’. The main convent is in Mexico City, and is in charge of the administration and operations of Hospital San Carlos. The sponsoring charity organization for the Hospital as well as other health projects in Mexico, is recognized by the USA IRS* and is named: Fundación de Obras Sociales San Vicente, IAP.
Doctors who treat patients are recruited from medical schools in Mexico City. Doctors and nurses on temporary rotations are also provided by Doctors Without Borders International (France) and Doctors of the World, Inc. (USA).
The hospital, opened in 1967, on land donated by a family of Mexican Quakers, provides culturally competent care for local citizens, including the descendants of ancient Mayans, with a full-time staff of interpreters that speak Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Tojolabal, Chol and Mam.
Because San Carlos doesn’t receive government funds, even poor patients have to pay something, usually what they can afford. The hospital houses patients’ visiting family members in the guesthouse and allows them to pay off bills by working in the hospital.
The hospital has approximately 100 beds for both adults and children, usually full. Most of the children who come suffer from malnutrition, as well as related diseases, so much of the work is feeding and building them back to health. There are eight doctors and a variety of health care workers on staff all supplied by external organizations, and nuns from the Sisters of Charity are responsible for the operation and administration of the hospital. The hospital receives patients from the surrounding areas, and also has a truck and a small airplane that serve distant villages and outlying areas toward the Guatemalan border.
Common health problems include malaria, malnutrition, tuberculosis, parasitic infections, and high rates of death in childbirth and infancy. Much of the disease is preventable; however because clean water, sanitation, and sustainable food production are not available, these conditions continue to exact a high toll. The lack of a system of health services within the communities makes the role that Hospital San Carlos plays even more vital as it attempts to respond to these needs.
In 2002, there were 13,188 outpatients' visits and 2,518 hospitalizations: 45 percent of which were for children. Many of these patients, called ‘hermanos’ or ‘brothers and sisters’ by hospital staff, arrive in very grave health with diseases already in advanced stages due to the dire poverty and the difficulty in traveling outside their remote and inaccessible communities.
* Mexico Tax Exempt Organizations According to the US - Mexico Double Taxation Treaty 2003
The Income Tax Treaty was entered into Mexico and the United States of America in 1994. Under this treaty, Exempt Organizations are considered. This means that receipts issued by Mexican Institutions may be deducted by persons and corporations from U.S. taxable income, although it must only be from income generated in Mexico. It also facilitates the grant making process for Foundations to Mexican Organizations according to the Internal Revenue Service procedures. The following organizations have been authorized by fiscal authorities for such purpose up to May 2003:
159. Fundación de Obras Sociales San Vicente, IAP
