Community Corner

Mather Staff Joins Others to Provide Needed Care in Ecuador

More than a dozen doctors, nurses and technicians volunteered with Blanca's House humanitarian mission to deliver healthcare services to underserved populations.

Members of the staff at went with a team of 61 volunteers in the medical community from Long Island on a recent humanitarian mission to Playas, Ecuador to provide free surgical services to those in need of care.

The nonprofit organization Blanca’s House organizes healthcare professionals who donate their time to provide free medical treatment to children and their families who would otherwise have no access to modern health care.  While there the team completed 119 adult and pediatric surgeries including hernia repairs, GYN procedures, thyroid surgeries, cleft palates, cleft lips and burn revisions, according to a statement released by Mather Hospital.

“We leave our jobs and families behind to travel for one week to provide care for the less fortunate. In that small time period we change lives!” said Kerry O’Sullivan, RN, a Mather nurse who has been on several other missions with Blanca’s House. “These trips are some of the best life experiences you can have. We bring a little piece of our patients home with us and we leave a bit of ourselves behind for them.”

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According to a Mather representative the trip is organized by Blanca’s House and every volunteer (from Mather and other hospitals) pays their own way and also uses their vacation time to go.

Blanca's House was founded by Galo Burbano, chief nurse anesthetist for Long Island Nurse Anesthetists, a practice that provides anesthetists for Mather and other Long Island hospitals.

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To learn more about Blanca’s House, go to their website or on Facebook.


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