Goals and objectives:
To continue the work of Jesus as described in Luke 4: 18, 19: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
Daily function of the clinic and mission: The clinic serves as an arm of Amish Mennonite Aid and the local Salvadoran Mennonite church. We aim to work with and within the local community in the following ways:
a. Most decisions are made by clinic personnel, often in consultation with local staff, using an ad hoc clinic board to make larger decisions
b. As much as is possible, staff members are hired from the local village and trained for their job on site
c. While international medication and financial donations form the base of clinic funds, patients are asked to contribute a minimal amount so that the medical care is both valued and respected.
d. The clinic attempts to provide a holistic approach to medical care, providing resources to help meet physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
e. The clinic attempts to complement, not compete with existing national health resources. To this end we
–refer patients to public clinics for immunizations and radiologic diagnosis
–refer patients to area hospitals for surgery, childbirth, and other inpatient needs.
Avenues of meeting these needs:
–Providing daily and systematic Biblical teaching to patients waiting to be seen by the provider
–Providing periodic teaching on mental health topics and offering private counseling by a trained counselor
–Offering affordable (subsidized) literature on topics pertaining to spiritual, social, and emotional well-being
–Treating each person as an individual loved by God and by the clinic staff. As special economic needs arise (ie, formula supplementation for malnourished infants), they are addressed on an individual basis, depending on the current clinic resources.
CORE VALUES of CLINIC MISSION PERSONNEL
| –Respectfully serving and honoring each patient without being “respecters of persons.” We attempt to allocate resources and schedule appointments based on fairness, justice and actual need as opposed to social or economic status or other systems of favoritism.
–Personally and consistently modeling the humility and compassion of Jesus; working for the good of the other, not my personal good, as the primary focus of our work. –Attempting to bring grace and compassion to the patient at some level, even when physical healing cannot be accomplished –Finding reward in ways other than financial; considering staff’s financial needs at least as much as the administration’s –Honoring and enabling the staff; looking for ways they can become more effective in their work –Maintaining professional excellence, which involves continually learning and refreshing our knowledge and skills –Recognizing that continuity of care is essential for the patient’s medical well-being –Showing integrity with respect to finances and resources: these must be used for the purpose intended and in a way that the donor understood they would be used. They must also be used wisely, to benefit the greatest amount of the neediest persons possible. |
