Los Andes clinic 'It felt so good to help'
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EL ALTO, BOLIVIA
Andres Pacheco has been at the Los Andes Women and Children's Clinic no more than a few minutes when he sheds his suit coat and tie and pulls on forest green surgical scrubs.
A former stake president and a gentle bear of a man, Brother Pacheco answers to Dr. Pacheco inside the clinic. At this moment, duty calls. A young El Alto woman is in the final stages of labor and her baby is ready to make its entrance into the world.
Inside a well-equipped delivery room, Dr. Pacheco offers soothing encouragement to the expectant mother as she endures her final moments of labor pain.
"Push a little harder — you're doing great," he says. "Just one more push."
And with that, another infant arrives at Los Andes. Good news. It's a healthy boy with a shock of jet-black hair. Dr. Pacheco congratulates the young woman on her newborn son and places the howling child in his mother's open arms.
It's a happy, wondrous moment — one experienced several times each day at this tiny Bolivian clinic at the edge of the Andes Mountains. Located some 14,000 feet above sea level, the red-walled Los Andes Clinic is something of a physical wonder as well. It's certain to be among the highest labor-and-delivery facilities on the globe.
The state-operated clinic is a daily, 24-hour hive of activity as patients, children, doctors, nurses and pharmacists move in and out of the clinic here in El Alto, a burgeoning city located high above Bolivia's capital of La Paz. Still, a few patients each day likely take notice of the words inscribed on a simple municipal plaque placed near the clinic entrance:
"In recognition and appreciation to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for its help and cooperation in donating medical equipment and making improvements to the hospital."
The plaque is dated October 2009. The genesis of the Church and its friendship with the clinic go back about a year earlier.
In January of 2009, South America West Area President Marcus B. Nash spoke with officials in the Church Welfare Department about developing and sponsoring a humanitarian project in Bolivia, South America's poorest nation.
Welfare area manager Wade Sperry was dispatched to La Paz with the task of identifying a project that would serve a large number of Bolivians in need. Working with local priesthood leaders, Brother Sperry learned about the Los Andes Women and Children's Clinic. The 16-year-old hospital was showing its age and in dire need of modern incubators, delivery tables and other medical equipment to care for expectant mothers, premature babies and other children and women.
"The need there for better medical facilities was probably as high as just about anywhere in the country," said Brother Wade.
Welfare officials also learned one of the physicians at the clinic was Dr. Pacheco, a faithful member who once presided over the La Paz Bolivia Sopocachi Stake.
Dr. Pacheco proved "absolutely key" in developing the Church-sponsored project to assist the clinic, said Brother Sperry. "He just took the bull by the horns." After meeting with Dr. Pacheco and other hospital administrators to identify the most pressing needs, the Church purchased equipment such as incubators for sick newborns, a huge dryer to help the laundry staff keep up with the clinic's constant linen needs and several other pieces of medical hardware such as comfortable delivery room tables. Updated neo-natal training was offered to the clinic's medical professionals and staff. A local contractor was also hired to remodel a section of the hospital.
But that's just half the story. The local members in El Alto — many who had delivered their own children at Los Andes — adopted the clinic and provided thousands of hours of labor, cleaning up the hospital and coating the walls with fresh coats of paint.
"The local leader talked about what they could do to participate," Brother Sperry said.
El Alto Bolivia Stake President Hernan Rodriguez said the clinic project has allowed the Church to build lasting friendships and trust among their neighbors.
"Our members have donated their time and talents to this hospital," President Rodriquez said. "It felt so good to help. We are happy that the children in our community can start their lives in a clinic such as this that's as good as anywhere in the world."
The Church-sponsored project was celebrated at a ceremony outside the Los Andes Clinic last October. Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve and several government officials were counted among the participants.
Clinic administrator Dr. David Civero Gordillo, said, "The Church has done a great job here." He spoke of the faithful devotion of the local members to help clean and make the clinic a more comfortable and inviting care center for its patients. He added the equipment donations have allowed the facility to better serve the entire El Alto community.
New mother Sonia Maribel Alarcon left the clinic with precious cargo wrapped in a colorful Bolivian cobija, or blanket: a tiny daughter she named Sara.
"Thanks to this hospital, I was able to have a healthy baby," she said. "The patients are treated so well here. I am so thankful for the Church's assistance."
Dr. Pacheco said the Church's efforts at Los Andes have helped the community better understand and appreciate the gospel's mission and message. The Church in El Alto, he said, has been brought out of obscurity.
"Thanks to the Church, the health of the people here has improved. As doctors, we're providing better treatment because of our new equipment."
