Medline and One World Surgery Partner to Bring Surgical Care to the Dominican Republic

The Medline Foundation is giving a $250,000 capital donation to One World Surgery (OWS) to help build a new surgical center in the Dominican Republic. Under the terms of the agreement, OWS will receive $50,000 annually over the next five years.

The 25,000-sq. ft. surgery center will have three operating rooms, a visitor center with guest rooms, a chapel and a healing garden. It will be located on the ranch of a children’s home belonging to OWS’ local partner, Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos. As of September, OWS has raised $3.55 million toward its $6 million goal for building the facility.

Serving Communities in Need

OWS has chosen the Dominican Republic as the site of its second center because of the great need among both the local Dominican and Haitian populations for access to safe and timely surgical care.  Surgical conditions make up to 28% of the global burden of disease, and the surgical infrastructure in low-income countries like Honduras and the Dominican Republic cannot meet all of it, according to the World Journal of Surgery. Further, the Global Surgery 2030 Report estimates that 94% of the population in low- and middle-income countries do not have access to safe, timely and affordable surgical and anesthesia care, compared with 14.9% of the population in high-income countries.

Building on OWS’ experience operating its first surgery center in Honduras, their new facility in the Dominican Republic will offer the surrounding poor communities with much-needed surgeries in orthopedics; general surgery; ear, nose and throat; gynecology; spine; ophthalmology and urology. Under construction since this fall, the center is slated to formally open in 2020. It welcomed its first primary care patients in Sept. 2019, and will serve its first surgical patients by early 2020. When fully operational, OWS expects to perform 3,000 surgeries, carry out 25,000 consultations, and offer volunteer opportunities to 1,500 people each year between its two centers by 2025.

Expanding Partnership

Medline’s contribution to OWS’ surgery center in the Dominican Republic is a natural extension of its ongoing partnership with the organization and its global health program. Over the past two years Medline has sent several brigades of volunteers–including dozens of employees–to OWS’ center in Honduras to implement long-term, customized solutions for their most pressing OR supply chain challenges. Thanks to their efforts, the surgery center has reclaimed over 1,000 square feet of space, can now forecast supply needs more accurately, and can carry less inventory at any given moment while maintaining all supply needs and increasing OR efficiency from set-up to turn-over. OWS’ new system will grow with them as they expand beyond Honduras into the Dominican Republic.

“Our expertise and experience in supply chain and perioperative efficiency has helped OWS increase its capacity and run better,” said Francesca Olivier, Medine’s senior director of innovation & social responsibility. “We are eager to help start OWS off on the right foot in the Dominican Republic and uncover more ways to help them make care more accessible to everyone, everywhere.”

Learn more about how Medline is bringing its service and expertise to communities all around the world.