The Primary Care Unit (UNAP) medical clinic, built by Guanin in 2011 and expanded in 2019 into a modern two-story facility, serves the community of La Piedra. It provides free health care to more than 1,700 families who lack access to medical services and where the majority live below the poverty line.

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Community of la Piedra:

The residents of La Piedra live in extreme poverty. Approximately 60 percent earn less than three dollars per day due to limited employment opportunities, and one in three earns less than two dollars per day. This is why we prioritize support for this community. Most households sustain themselves by raising animals, primarily chickens, cultivating basic crops such as yucca and other vegetables, and relying on irregular informal work (chiripeo). Access to essential services is extremely limited. Potable water is available only through five-gallon bottles that cost one dollar each. Only a small share of residents, roughly 10 percent, have electricity, and there are no telephone lines, internet access, or modern communication technologies in place.

 

Cooperation Agreement:

In October 2021, a cooperation agreement was signed between the National Health Service (SNS) and the Guanin Center to strengthen and expand primary care services in the community of La Piedra, in the municipality of San Antonio de Guerra, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Through this partnership, more than six thousand patients received essential health services.

 

Partners:

Thanks to our collaborators, including institutions in medicine, nursing, public health and dentistry across the United States, Germany and the Dominican Republic. Your support makes it possible for us to provide free medical services!

 

Collaborating with Guanin can be a great opportunity for students in medicine, nursing, public health and other health care fields to gain practical international experience across a range of hospital environments ranging from basic care to specialized services.  We are continually looking for innovative ways of working with new corporate partners and sponsors. These special Group or individual programs, are tailored for students and volunteers with diverse interests and specific requirements.

 

Currently the UNAP la Piedra is the only health center for the entire community of La Piedra, which is operating in the Community Center of the Guanín Foundation. This health center functions as a Primary Care Unit, providing the services of ambulatory medicine, pediatric consultation, general medicine, nutrition, dental, and dermatology.

 

This health center was opened in 2011. The health services offered by our Primary Care Unit are offered to all the inhabitants of the community of La Piedra, as well as some segments of the population of the communities of Campo Lindo, El Farallón, Mirador Aereo and Bani Concordia, among others. The nearest health-care centers are located a considerable distance away and are only accessible via rocky dirt roads that are difficult to drive on, especially when one is in a hurry. This has been the cause of many severe injuries, even deaths, because we have had to transport injured and ill residents to the hospital in trucks and on motorcycles.