OBGYN Program
HOLA implemented its OBGYN program in late 2017, hiring Dr. Maria Teresa Zelaya Vasquez to work two mornings a week in the community of Chacraseca on the outskirts of Leon. HOLA has a long history of doing work in the community of Chacraseca. The Ministry of Health (MINSA) also identified the community as one that would greatly benefit from the hiring of an OBGYN. In addition to providing HOLA with a year round prescene in Nicaragua, the program aimed to:
• Increase access to health care services
• Improve care coordination
• Enhance and support existing health care infrastructure
Over its first two years, the clinic proved to be a great success. In 2018, Dr. Zelaya conducted 564 patient consultations, with this number increasing to 576 in 2019. The program was exceptionally well received by the community, by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health, and the Pan American Health Organization. Throughout this process, HOLA worked in conjunction with MINSA to identify additional communities where these services could be especially valuable.
In March 2020, buoyed by this success, HOLA hired Dr. Leyla Maria Chevez Gonzalez to work two mornings a week in the community of La Leona. HOLA further expanded operations in April of 2021, hiring Dr. Zelaya to work one morning a week at a rural clinic in La Ceiba.
Since 2021, our doctors have averaged over 1,400 patient consultations a year across these three locations.
HOLA tracks patient data through its board led quality control committee, ensuring all our doctors are practicing to current WHO standards.
Veterinary Work
Work animals in rural Nicaragua can form the cornerstone of the community. When these animals are in poor health, so too are the community members depending on them for their livelihood. According to Central America Data, there are fewer than 1,000 veterinarians throughout the entire country of Nicaragua.
Our volunteers partner with local veterinarians to provide vitamin supplements, de-worming and surgical care for animals in rural communities. These procedures help to lower the burden of zoonotic diseases on the community while simultaneously improving the health of the community’s animals, which serve as a source of both food and capital. In the past two years HOLA has provided these treatments to over 500 hundred working animals.
In 2022, HOLA partnered with the NGO, Nico Love, to run a spay/neuter and wellness clinic in the community of Villa Guadalupe. At this clinic, HOLA volunteers funded and assisted the treatment of 398 animals. This partnership has remained a fruitful one with HOLA and Nica Love partnering on two similar clinics in the community of Villa Del Carmen 2023, with two further clinics planned in 2024.
Additionally, The Jamie Byers fund, established in memory of one of HOLA’s original founders, helps fund tuition scholarships for financially disadvantage veterinary students in Nicaragua who have demonstrated a commitment to community service.
Volunteer Trips
To support these efforts, HOLA runs immersive educational trips to Nicaragua. These trips were designed by physicians on HOLA’s board to provide leadership, research and clinical opportunities to students interested in a career in healthcare, veterinary work or non-profit leadership.
During these trips, students are afforded the opportunity to shadow local doctors, observe surgeries in a local operating theatre, participate in veterinary work and conduct research work that will help inform the expansion of our programs.
Across the past two years HOLA has worked with students from the University of Denver and the University of Georgia. All proceeds generated by these trips go to funding and supplying HOLA sponsored doctors and providing much needed supplies to the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health.