Rotary International leaders can sometimes cross boundaries more easily than people in government agencies. As a case in point, look no further than the unique relationship among local Rotarians, Wilcox Memorial Hospital and Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu
Rotary International leaders can sometimes cross boundaries more easily than people in government agencies.
As a case in point, look no further than the unique relationship among local Rotarians, Wilcox Memorial Hospital and Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City, Philippines.
Thanks to the efforts of the Rotary Club of Poipu Beach and other participating Rotarians in conjunction with their sisterRotary club partner in Cebu City, the people of that region are benefiting from donated health supplies from Kaua‘i.
According to D.Q. Jackson, a past president of the Rotary Club of Poipu Beach, more than $10,000 has been raised in three months to supply Vicente Sotto Memorial Hospital with muchneeded medical equipment.
At the present time there are four medical projects in progress at Vicente Sotto Memorial sponsored by four Kaua‘i Rotary clubs.
Though he cannot be absolutely certain about it, Jackson said he believed the sister-hospital relationship initiated between Wilcox and Sotto leaders earlier this year is the only one of its kind on Hawai‘i.
“In spite of significant research we are unable to find another example of an international sisterhospital partnership in the United States. We suspect that this might possibly be the first,” he said.
So far, 40 intravenous (IV) pumps and 1,000 IV tubes have been delivered to Cebu City. Jackson said three anesthesia machines are ready to go, and are awaiting freight payments.
Another project in the works is to renovate and modernize the substandard bathroom facilities at Vicente Sotto, both for the use of locals and visiting Wilcox physicians and Rotarians.
In terms of firsts, Teodoro B. “Ted” Locson Jr., the official reciprocal representative of the Rotary Club of Cebu Port Center, became the first Cebu Rotary representative to visit Kaua‘i.
Locson, on his way to Chicago for a centennial Rotary celebration, addressed the Rotary Club of Poipu Beach Wednesday morning.
“Rotary anywhere in the world is basically the same. There is much need for non-government offices to help improve the life of the community,” said Locson, vice president of the external affairs and relations division of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
“The difference between our club and the Kaua‘i (Po‘ipu) one is that there’s is more cohesive, representing a small community. Ours is a large metropolitan area.”
The relationship between the two hospitals was put in motion when Dr. Lee Evslin, president and chief executive officer of Wilcox Health (Wilcox Memorial Hospital and Kauai Medical Clinic), sent a letter of friendship to Dr. Filomena Delos Santos, chief of Vicente Sotto Memorial, the site of a previous Rotaplast (Rotary plastic-surgery) medical mission to correct cleft pallets.
He proposed a partnership. He received a positive response, and he traveled to Cebu City earlier this year, along with three Kaua‘i Rotarians.
The sister-hospital partnership was signed, and the Rotary relationship also evolved.
Jackson, an emergencyroom nurse at Wilcox Memorial Hospital, said Evslin has long had a vision of an international sisterhospital partnership. Several of Evslin’s Kaua‘i colleagues participated in the last three Rotaplast medical missions to Cebu City. More than 300 children with cleft lips or palates were treated.
Jackson said Evslin noted the positive changes exhibited by the Rotaplast participants, and sought a means to spread those changes throughout the hospital.
The Philippines is the obvious place, due to the developing friendships between Kaua‘i’s medical and Rotary personnel and their Cebu counterparts, Jackson said.
