A team of 80 doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and volunteers recently returned from a medical mission to the ILAC Center in Santiago, Dominican Republic. The team included specialists in Cardiology, Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Gastroenterology, Gynecology, Urology, Emergency Medicine, Radiology, Dentistry, and Physical Therapy. Sponsored by the Cuban Association of the Order of Malta, during the three-day mission, the team treated 1065 patients. Many of these saw 2 or 3 specialists and over 100 ultrasonographic studies including cardiac echo’s were performed.

“It is an honor to take care of the Dominican Campesinos. Our Dominican friends are a noble people who are so grateful for what we do. But the reality is that even though we bring healing to them in the form of our care and our medications, we receive so much more from them knowing that we are helping our fellowmen and women. We feel this so strongly in our hearts every time we travel to Santiago on these missions” says medical surgeon José Joaquin Centurion, President of the Cuban Association of the Order of Malta, who has been leading the medical missions.

For some 20 years, the Cuban Association, headquartered in Miami, has been organizing the missions to the Dominican Republic that, in addition to offering healthcare consultations, also entail the distribution of high-quality medicines for free.
The next mission in the Dominican Republic is already scheduled for September 2024.