Local doctor gives back globally

Montage Health Foundation supports local doctor’s clinical volunteerism

More than 20 years ago, Dr. Richard Alexander, local obstetrician/gynecologist, visited a rudimentary hospital in Uspantán, Guatemala, one of the poorest regions in the country. The hospital was a one-floor structure with exposed rebar and unfinished walls, bars on the windows, and a stark absence of medical equipment.

He had been introduced to the repurposed refugee center by Pastor Solomon Hernandez and his wife, Medi, who told him of the atrocities of the Guatemalan Civil War, which had affected and displaced hundreds of thousands of Maya people. Pastor Hernandez spoke of taking more than 90 people at a time into his small home, where he worked to feed, clothe, and triage illness and injury among them.

Dr. Alexander also learned that Pastor Hernandez, who had received training equivalent to an EMT, would trek four hours into the mountains to provide medical care to those who couldn’t make it to his house. He expressed a deep desire to open a small medical clinic near his home.

Dr. Alexander took the message to heart, and offered to volunteer his clinical services to help provide patient care and train local medical staff. His motivation was compassion. His goal was contribution. Today, with the support of Dr. Alexander and other donors and volunteers, that one-floor structure has grown into Westmont Bethel Hospital — a four-story, nonprofit hospital serving more than 1,000 patients, performing nearly 100 surgeries, and delivering 10 to 20 babies every month.

To support his clinical volunteerism, Dr. Alexander applied for a grant from Montage Health Foundation. The Clinical Volunteer grant is an initiative of Montage Health Foundation’s Physician Excellence Program, designed to support the retention and recruitment of doctors who serve our local community. Since 2019, Montage Health Foundation has awarded 51 grants to local physicians working to improve care for our community and beyond, a contribution totaling nearly $650,000 to date.

In the nearly 20 years since his initial visit to Guatemala, Dr. Alexander has continued to return to the country to volunteer his clinical services — and since 2019, he has been awarded three clinical volunteer grants from Montage Health Foundation to support his humanitarian service.

The commitment and collaboration continues

After a two-year pandemic pause, Dr. Alexander and his colleagues are planning to return to Guatemala this spring, to continue offering their support and experience to the medical team at Westmont Bethel Hospital.

“During our hiatus,” he says, “we have done quarterly zoom meetings with the medical team in Guatemala, which has been very helpful. When COVID hit, we modeled what we did at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, by buying tents, so the Westmont team could see patients outside the facility. They were able to triage people in the parking lot, and then those who had COVID could go to the national hospital. Patients who didn’t have it, could enter Westmont Bethel hospital. This worked out very effectively.”

In the meantime, Dr. Alexander has invited Guatemalan medical student graduates to come to Monterey to stay with him and participate in job shadowing with local specialists, including neurologist Dr. Alejandro Centurion and ophthalmologist Dr. Richard Kim.

“What’s really remarkable,” says Dr. Alexander, “is for these people of Guatemala City to know they have friends in the world, people who care about them, many countries away, some of whom will never visit Guatemala. This is something that touches all of us who are involved very deeply.”

When we think about it, he says, it really is a small world.