The local Honduran Medical Board which oversees the work and administration of the Ahuas Clinic met March 19-21, 2024, at the clinic. BWM Executive Director Justin Rabbach and Chair of the Ahuas Committee Andrew Starr attended to offer support and to hear in great detail about the ongoing work of the clinic.
During the meetings, reports were received from all departments at the clinic: medical staff, administration, maintenance, and preventative health. Statistics were presented with a breakdown of the nearly 3,000 external consult patients seen at the clinic in 2023. The review of the work demonstrated the immense need for the services provided at the clinic, especially for women in the community. Female patients made up more than double the amount of male patients last year; much of this can be attributed to the strong work the clinic does in cases of maternal health.
While the board was meeting, the new medical director, Dr. Maylo Wood, was called away to assist in a C-section delivery of a baby – one of four children born at the clinic on March 19th!
Recent work has been done by the new medical director to evaluate the current operations of the clinic and a draft annual operating plan was put before the board for discussion. Additional review is needed, but it is anticipated to be edited and approved soon by the board. This will help give some clear direction both to the staff at the clinic and to donors and other supporters of the work at the Ahuas Clinic.
Jose Aguilar of the accounting firm contracted to complete a financial review led a comprehensive review of the 2023 financial audit. This detailed look at clinic finances highlighted areas of great improvement over the past year, such as the full documentation of all cash transactions and the development of internal controls related to handling these funds. It also highlighted ways in which online systems can and should be utilized moving forward to help with administration in the future. For example, the online inventory tracking system for medications, which can integrate directly with the accounting software so that all prescriptions written and filled can be matched automatically with their billing information, will reduce the need for double entry and eliminate errors which can happen when records are manually entered multiple times.
New staff members since the last meeting of the medical board included Dr. Maylo Wood, Dr. Reina Ponce, and new accountant Belly Goslen López. Each new staff member was formally introduced to the board and had the opportunity to describe their current work and their plans for the year ahead.
While many opportunities to strengthen the ongoing work of the clinic were identified, it was encouraging for board members, staff, and North American supporters to be together and share our commitment to this important ministry.
