Hombro a Hombro Clinics

Background

In 2008, Hombro a Hombro (HaH) signed a 'convenio,' or contract, with the Honduras Ministry of Health to provide basic health services to 36,000 people in Intibucá. In April of 2015, the 'convenio' was extended to cover 2 additional municipalities (7 in total), a total coverage area of over 69,000 people.

With a greater responsibility to the community, the organization made the decision in 2015 to divide its services between two legal non-profits: Hombro a Hombro (HaH) and Shoulder to Shoulder (StS). HaH would focus on being the sole third-party servicer of government clinics and healthcare for the large 'Frontera' territory. StS would focus on Education, Community Development, Nutrition, and Medical Brigades.

Despite the separation of programs, HaH and StS continue to share a vision in seeking to address the needs and uplift the isolated communities in the Southwestern Intibucá region.

Prior to the construction of Shoulder to Shoulder/Hombro a Hombro's first clinic in Santa Lucia in 1994, the nearest health care facility was a five-hour bus ride over a dangerous and sometimes impassable mountain road. Today, region residents can reach one of the nineteen facilities within a one-hour walk of their home.

Hombro a Hombro Clinics

The "convenio" (contract) finances doctors, health professionals, and administrative staff. It provides medication and supplies, health education and promotion in remote areas, and continuing education of personnel.

Currently, Hombro a Hombro operates 3 types of clinics. Primary health centers staffed by a physician (CESAMOs), clinics staffed by a nurse (CESARs), and Child and Maternal Health Clinics (CMIs). These clinics serve the Frontera Region covering the seven municipalities of Camasca, Colomoncagua, Concepción, Magdalena, San Antonio, San Marcos de la Sierra, and Santa Lucia.

Here, patients receive free emergency, primary, and post/neo natal care. Our diagnostic and laboratory services offer ultrasound examinations, radiology, and laboratory tests. They are also the centers for several of our dental, community health, and nutrition programs.

The “convenio” agreement, supported and supplemented by medical service trips and capital investment in infrastructure, has established a sustainable system of health care delivery where no health care existed thirty-plus years ago.