About Us
Surgical Team on a Mission, is a local team of health care professionals working together to improve the surgical health of the disadvantaged and underserved. We carry out this mission by combining all disciplines necessary for pre-, intra- and post-surgical care, reducing health disparities and promoting optimal health.
Over the past seven years our surgical team has undertaken, annual surgical missions to Hospitalito Atitlan in Santiago Atitlan Guatemala. Hospitalito Atitlan is a small private nonprofit hospital serving 75,000 Maya in the Guatemalan highlands, with the vast majority of their patients unable to afford healthcare or surgical services.
Over the years our team has been successful in obtaining donations for capital equipment such as:
1) Camera and video equipment necessary to perform laparoscopic surgical procedures
2) Anesthesia gas machines necessary to provide general anesthesia
3) Emergency equipment to transform a van into an ambulance
Surgical Team on a Mission is a passionate group of dedicated professionals that are committed to finding the means to continue our yearly surgical mission trips in order to promote optimal health for the people of Santiago, through necessary and life changing general surgery. We have partnered with Ridgeview Medical Center who have graciously provided us with surgical/anesthesia supplies and medicine, since our inception.
Our Mission
Our Surgical Team
Typically performs 40-50 surgical procedures .
Provides funds for the patients’ hospital care.
Our Team is composed of 3 surgeons, 3 anesthesia staff, 3 scrub techs, 8-10 nurses for the pre-op or/and post-operative areas, 3 translators, and 8-10 non-medical “helpers”.
Team members pay all of their own travel and lodging expenses.
Hospitalito Atitlan
A small private nonprofit hospital serving over 75,000 Maya living on the southern shore of Lake Atitlan in the Guatemalan highlands.
The local staff of nurses, physicians, and administrators work hand-in-hand with international volunteer medical professionals to bring quality care to the community.
In early October of 2005, Tropical Storm Stan hit Guatemala with a fury, unleashing days of torrential rain. On the morning of October 5th, a rumble of mud, trees and boulders rushed down Tolimán Volcano at more than 60 miles an hour. The landslide buried hundreds of members of the community and broke through the Hospitalito’s doors. It was six months and five days after the grand opening celebration.
Within days, the K’aslimaal Board found a temporary home, a former backpackers’ hotel. Workmen and volunteers immediately began transforming the facility into an emergency hospital.
After Mudslide in Oct. 2005
New Hospital Opened October 2007