Students Supporting Surgery

By Cami McKenzie
and Ashley McEnroe

After a year of remote school, we all remember the eagerness to return to the classrooms at Chatham High School. A return to normal for academics, athletics, friendship and school activities was desired by all! Remmey McEnroe was always involved in multiple volunteering and club opportunities, but she wanted to create a club of her own.

Remmey knew her mother was involved in a not-for-profit organization and asked how she could help. She created Students Supporting Surgery to raise money to support UHMLA, the Unidad Hospitalaria Móvil en Latino América.

UHMLA is a nonprofit organization established back in 2011 by a close family friend, Dr. Rolando Rolandelli, Chair of Surgery at Morristown Medical Center and a native Argentinian. Along with a group of other surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses from Morristown Medical Center, UHMLA set out to provide surgical services to the underserved population in regions of Latin America, most notably Guatemala, Honduras, Peru and Ecuador.

The first stop was Antiqua Guatemala at the Hospital “Hermano Santo Pedro ‘’ first built in 1663. Surgical teams of various disciplines come from all over the world to perform surgery, 75% of which is provided to indigent people brought into the city from remote areas of the country. UHMLA moved onto Honduras…

With the help of Dr. Susie Kaye, Chair of Family Medicine at Overlook Medical Center, UHMLA was able to connect with “Hombro a Hombro” or “Shoulder to Shoulder” (STS) and the Hospital Enrique Aguilar Cerrato (HEAC) in the city of La Esperanza, in Honduras, on the border of El Salvador. HEAC had only two operating rooms, one of which was dedicated to obstetrical emergencies, which occurred quite often. The town of Morristown has a large population of Hondurans from this very region which has led to referrals back and forth.

UHMLA also founded a hospital in Riobamba Ecuador, built through resources devoted by Paul R. Martel, founder of a successful investment management firm in Connecticut. Riombamba is a city in the center of Ecuador near the Chimborazo Volcano, the most distant point to the center of the Earth and the closest to the sun. Many children there had encountered microtia, a peculiar case where no external ears are present at birth. This condition took an emotional toll on these children. UHMLA team members were able to come up with a plan to reconstruct external ears with sternum cartilage. A two-staged procedure resulted in new ears being revealed to children who displayed indescribable happiness with the result.

Operations came to a halt when the pandemic hit in 2020. UHMLA was required to cancel trips scheduled for the remainder of that year. They were thrilled to finally resume mission trips on their first post COVID trip this November 2022, destination Peru… Created by a retired Cardiologist Dr. Luiz Vazquez from Chicago, the Yantaló Foundation was named for his mother’s hometown. He engaged architecture students from the University of California San Diego to design a new state of the art building “Clinical Adelina Soplin” named after his mother. Surgery is performed in a very large room with three cases running simultaneously.

These surgical mission trips are funded through community philanthropy efforts to provide surgical care to Central and South America, the most underserved areas in the world when it comes to medical care. The medical professionals devote their own time and effort to coordinate trip logistics, pack surgical supplies and medications and over a week of their time for this important cause.

The Students Supporting Surgery Club at Chatham High School raised over $500 through bake sales to contribute to UHMLA’s operations. Without organizations like these, individuals would not have access to surgical services many of us take for granted. If you would like to be a part of changing people’s lives, please visit www.uhmla.com