The Health Post at Tololar is a six-room building that is staffed by one doctor, three nurses, one dental technician and a pharmacy attendant. They provide primary & acute care, prenatal care, vaccinations and dental care to Tololar.
The clinic is responsible for an area encompassing fourteen communities, and its farthest residents are ten or more miles distant from the clinic. To alleviate this problem, every Thursday the Tololar staff pack up their equipment and make house calls to the furthest-flung communities. They put forth a great effort, but this approach has a number of problems. The Ministry of Health (MINSA) cannot always guarantee a truck for transport, so the staff sometimes has to travel in an ox cart, or perch awkwardly on motorcycles. Also, many households cannot be visited more than once or twice a year, just because of logistics and the distances involved.
A late resident of Porvenir, Rolando Rugamo, wished that a part of his land be set aside for a health clinic, and his sons have agreed to honor his request. Their land is perfectly situated for a small health post – it is right across from the primary school in Porvenir, and centrally located to most of the Tololar clinic’s furthest communities.
Tololamos and Rotary Club International are planning to construct a basic health post in this spot that could be later expanded into a full clinic. The Tololar staff will attend to patients in this building every Thursday rather than making house calls, which will dramatically improve their efficiency and also give hundreds of rural residents greatly increased access to health care.