US surgical mission to Benguet this Feb

By Ramon Dacawi 

A group of medical volunteers from New Jersey in the United States will add meaning to February as “Love Month” through a general surgery medical mission they will conduct at the Benguet General Hospital in La Trinidad town.

Led by couple, Dr. Mostiolo and Ling Garcia, the visiting medical team will be doing surgery from Feb. 18 to 21 under the medical mission ministry of the  Newark chapter of “Bukas-loob sa Diyos”, a Catholic lay organization with branches in the Philippines. Hongkong, Canada and the U.S.

The Garcia couple confirmed the mission in a letter to Benguet Gov. Nestor Fongwan, saying “the team will be composed of general surgeons, gynecologists, anesthesiologists, pediatricians, internists, family practitioners, dentists and support group and prayer warriors”.

Staff of the provincial hospital led by OIC-chief of hospital, Dr. Joseph Cabinta and Dr. Paz Camdas, chair of the committee on outreach and extension services, are finalizing hosting arrangements for the four-day mission requested by Gov. Fongwan.

“We plan to perform general surgical procedures (thyroidectomies, cholecystectomies, hermiorrhapies, mastectomy), plastic and dental procedures, minor surgical operations, and general medical and pediatric consultations,”  Dr. Garcia wrote the governor.

“Our activities are founded on god’s Word and are in response ot His call to love and serve the needy,” Garcia said in his letter, copy furnished Bishop Carlito Cenzon of the Baguio Diocese. “It is based upon our belief that the medical mission is our Lord’s mission and we are called by Him to share our God-given talents in caring for the sick and the poor.”

The target beneficiaries of the medical outreach are indigent patients who would have undergone pre-screening before the start of the mission.

In an email posted on the BLD-Newark, the Garcia couple called on volunteers to join the mission and for the lay community to donate medicines, medical supplies and equipment .

Bulk of the mission members will depart from the U.S. evening of Feb. 13 and leave Manila for La Trinidad morning of Feb. 17.