PARTNERS FOR RURAL HEALTH IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Description

PRHDR is a Maine based, 501c3 nonprofit corporation (non-membership). The current organization grew out of a partnership program founded in 1995 to promote health in rural areas of the northern Dominican Republic while offering international service-learning opportunities for volunteers and students in the health professions.

PRHDR missions provide community health clinics in villages twice a year, staffed by volunteer health professionals; Dominican partners; faculty members from participating educational institutions (Univ. of Maine System Schools of Nursing and Language Departments, UNE School of Medicine, Husson Univ., etc.); Peace Corp members; experienced volunteer medical interpreters; and students. Returning bi-annually to the same villages to provide continuity of care to residents who would otherwise have no or limited access to health services, PRHDR also delivers health and pharmaceutical supplies, donated or purchased, to the community sites, providing adequate amounts between missions for individuals served. PRHDR also trains selected residents in the villages as Health Promoters to monitor at-risk clients, promote the safe use of medicines, and help maintain personal health between missions.