U.S. Defense Department Partners with Belizean Surgeons for Medical Mission

A U.S. Army surgical team with the United States Southern Command Joint Task Force Bravo based in Honduras has been in Belize since the beginning of the week. The team has partnered with Belizean surgeons to provide elective surgery at the Southern Regional Hospital in Dangriga and the Western Regional Hospital in Belmopan for two weeks. A News Five team caught up with them as they are about to complete their rounds in Dangriga.  Reporter Duane Moody files this story.

Duane Moody, Reporting

The JTF Bravo Team from Honduras comprises of military surgeons, operating room nurses, technicians and an anaesthesiologist and has been working side-by-side with Belizean counterparts from the Ministry of Health and Wellness. At the Southern Regional Hospital, they have, so far, carried out fifteen general surgeries.

Guillermo Saenz

Dr. Guillermo Saenz, Medical Officer Liaison, JTV Bravo

“One of our main missions is to provide medical help in Central America and the Caribbean. Also Joint Task Force Bravo is ready to support any disaster relief in the region. We do primary care missions and also speciality missions in all of Central America. Right now we are supporting Belize and there is also another team in Guatemala. The type of surgeries are the ones that most fall within the scope of general surgery. That’s patients with gallbladders and the procedure is cholecystectomy which is removal of the gallbladder and also patients with hernias, epigastric hernias and umbilical hernias.”

Due to the pandemic, elective surgeries were suspended at the hospital. Regional Health Manager Maria Monima says that the support from the medical mission helps to revitalise that service to residents from both Stann Creek and Toledo.

Maria Monima

Maria Monima, Regional Health Manager, Southern Health Region

“For us, it has been a great benefit, a great assistance. Help us to enhance the capacity of the surgeries here in our community, the much needed elective surgeries here. The list that we have due to the COVID pandemic it was really a long list. But thank you for this mission and some of the patients got great relief with these elective surgeries.”

Mayor Robert Mariano says that he is elated about the free services being provided to the residents of Dangriga.

Robert Mariano

Robert Mariano, Mayor, Dangriga

“I personally want to say a big thank you to the team who have left all their family and friends back home and come to Dangriga, Belize to give our people this free service. I also want to thank Miss Monima who knew this team before she came to Dangriga and as a result of that, she asked them to come to Dangriga so henceforth, we will start to see this team coming to Dangriga.”

The mission will head to the Western Regional Hospital early next week to perform surgeries there as well.  The collaboration assists with building the capacity of the Belizean healthcare personnel.

Dr. Guillermo Saenz

“Beside from the support we brought supplies because host nation surgeons are very capable. The add-on that we do is we augment their capacity with supplies and a little more personnel and also we do what’s called subject matter exchange and share our experiences.”

Maria Monima

“We will continue providing the services as much as possible in our capacity. We have surgeons here, we have internists, we have different specialities here. We will continue doing elective surgeries of course. The team also brought some more equipment and thank you to the U.S. Embassy, all the rest of equipment and materials remain here in the hospital so that we can continue doing the surgeries here.”

Duane Moody for News Five.