Community Outreach Team Meeting

June 1, 2023

Lesley introduced Natalie as the new VP of Community Outreach.  Lesley will be the Team Leader for the Community Outreach team.  

Report on meeting with the representantes by Luis Botero

OUTREACH TEAM Summary of Contacts with Boquete’s Local Authorities

The following is a summary of contacts made so far with the Representantes from the 6 different districts (corregimientos, in Spanish) belonging to the Boquete municipality:

Corregimiento CALDERA

Rep. Mr. Roger Pitty. Phone +507-6474-0300 (Attended BHH’s presentation at Boquete council)

Vice-Rep. Aide Miranda. Phone +507-6409-1383

Historically, Caldera is a corregimiento where its officials have one of the highest level of engagement with BHH. Usually, the community in need of assistance reach out to their Representante and his officers, who in turn contact BHH directly. They have welcomed our offer to speak directly to the community, by participating in special meetings or events planned by the Representante’s office.

Corregimiento PALMIRA

Rep. Mrs. Vera Caballero. Phone +507-6791-8453

Assistant. Ms. Norma.

They already had our brochures but were not sure about how to contact us. As expressed by Ms. Norma, the need for BHH services is high. Ms. Norma booked an appointment for Rep. Caballero and I on June 5th (pending confirmation at appointment hour).

Corregimiento Alto Boquete

Rep. Jose Manuel Gonzalez. Phone +507-6678-3425 (Attended BHH’s presentation at Boquete council)

Rep. Jose Manuel Gonzalez is also president of the Boquete’s General Municipal Council.

It was through him that we obtained the invitation to speak at the Council meeting last April.  We are trying to get an appointment at his office in Alto Boquete.

Corregimiento Bajo Boquete

Rep. Juan Esteban Gonzalez. Phone +507-6648-1613 (Attended BHH’s presentation at Boquete council) Ms. Solimar Morales – Secretary. Phone +507-6426-5980 Office phone 728-3746 jcbajoboquete@gmail.com

We had a good meeting; the corregimiento has been publishing information in their Facebook page about BHH’s blood donor program. We agreed to check its content, and make recommendations; we also agreed to proof future FB messages about BHH. Rep. Gonzalez expressed his interest in inviting us to their meetings.

Corregimiento Los Naranjos

Rep. Eduardo Rodriguez. Phone +507-6208-7235 (Attended BHH’s presentation at Boquete council)

We plan to visit the office, and establish a direct contact with secretary, or any person working at the location.

Corregimiento Jaramillo

Rep. José Montenegro. Phone +507-6798-3100 (Attended BHH’s presentation at Boquete council)

Vice-Rep. Mr. Quiel (Attended BHH’s presentation at Boquete council)

Assistant Mr. Castillo (carries Rep. Montenegro’s phone)

I met with them at their offices in Jaramillo. They had previously received copies of the new BHH brochure. So far they have not made requests for assistance from us. Rep. Montenegro showed great interest in the programs, including Blood Donors. We will be invited to a future community meeting.

Luis will also set up meetings with the community leaders of Potrerillos  Ariba, Potrerillos Abajo and El Banco.  BHH has loaned equipment to these communities.  

Dr. Rod and Luis will coordinate visiting the various offices to further communication.

Visiting Doctors and Clinics:

Currently only Dra. Shannon and HCA (Healthcare America-Veterans) are “working” with us.  Dr. Gomez, Dra. Diaz, Dra. King and Dra. Boya will all refer patients to us who need equipment, but no information is shared.  

In July the team will start visiting the local laboratories that have doctors on staff, and the smaller clinics and the physical therapists (Jessica and Rene) leaving brochures and business cards.  Leave MINSA and CSS for later.  

Lesley will look into getting stands for brochures and business cards.

Scholarships

It was decided that a conversation be held by Ginny and Craig with one of the Rotary scholarship students, to learn what is working and what is not.  Ginny and Craig will coordinate.

Ginny suggested a clarification of BHH’s objectives with regard to the scholarship program is needed.  After the meeting with the Rotary scholarship student, she will poll the members of the team for their opinions.  Initial thoughts were to give back to the community, to help students that would return to Boquete to help others after graduation.

Ginny asked if we had thought about joining forces with Rotary.  For example, Rotary required that their scholarship recipients do 16 hours of community service each semester.  If the recipient were to dedicate those 16 hours to volunteering with BHH, BHH would contribute some amount of money to the total scholarship.  It was suggested that perhaps the student(s) could volunteer with BHH during class breaks.

Discussion was whether BHH would require that the recipient be a student in a healthcare field.  Not necessarily a doctor or nurse, but something related to medical.

Discussion on funding was next.  Ginny mentioned that raising money for scholarships was easy and if BHH kept the funds segregated it would be easy to verify that the donations were going for the scholarships and nothing else.

To be done:

     Bev has agreed to be on the team along with Craig as so much of what Community Outreach does will affect call volume.       Luis and Dr. Rod continue to visit Representante’s offices     Lesley order brochure stands for doctor’s offices and start visiting offices in July     Craig and Ginny meet with Rotary scholarship person     Ginny to poll team members for “Why BHH wants to do a scholarship program?”