Guatemala Part 3 - Hospitalito Atitlán

Hospitalito Atitlán was founded in the 1960s and originally run by Catholic priests working in Santiago Atitlán from the Diocese of Oklahoma City.  The most famous of these priests was Fr. Stanley Rother who was killed by the military in 1981.

When the Civil War in Guatemala worsened in the 1970s, the Hospitalito was taken over by a non-profit.  In this time the military also built their base near the hospital entrance which deterred many patients from using its services.  The hospital closed in the early 1990s and remained so until 2003.

A building was renovated and the Hospitalito moved to a new location in early 2005.  Unfortunately, in October of 2005 Hurricane Stan hit the early and a huge mudslide came down from the Tulimán Volcano nearby burying much of the Hospitalito and killing 200 in Santiago Atitlán.

After working in makeshift building, the board of directors of the Hospitalito raised $2 million to build a new hospital through donations from various donors.  The hospital used to be just south of town but is not north of town in an area that is not believed to be prone to mudslides during large storms.

Here are some pictures:

The hospital has a 24 hour emergency room, 10 inpatient beds, 4 labor and delivery beds, 5 medical outpatient rooms and 1 room for dentistry. There is also a pharmacy, laboratory for blood and urine tests, ambulance, and other normal hospital facilities. There are usually very few inpatient and laboring woman but the emergency room and outpatient clinic do see a number of patients.

Here is a picture of the pediatric outpatient room (more exciting than the other rooms):

Here is a typical inpatient room: