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Construction of Third Level at 

Juan Pablo II Hospital in Mixco 

Mixco, 

Guatemala

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Project Goal Project Description

Expand services at the Juan Pablo II Maternal and Child Hospital by building a third level on the green building to provide additional care to the growing Guatemalan population, especially those most vulnerable and with fewer economic resources. 

The Construction of Third Level of Juan Pablo II Hospital in Mixco will build a third level over the hospital’s green building and expand services to the most vulnerable sectors of the population who now have very little access to low-cost or no-cost quality medical attention.

For a long time, health has been one of the most difficult issues to deal with in Guatemala, with little will from the public system to ensure the fundamental right to healthcare and well-being of all of its citizens. 

The Juan Pablo II Maternal and Child Hospital, a non-government, not-for-profit organization, is one of the few healthcare centers in Guatemala offering free or low-cost high-quality services to the poor.

 With your generous support, this project will entail the following:

Expanded clinical spaceExpansion of maternity and pediatric outpatient servicesDiagnostic labsAdditional bathroom facilitiesGreen construction techniques, which involve:Energy efficiencyUse of insulated building envelopeTriple insulated glazingPassive solar heating (where possibleThermal mass storage systems LED lighting in combination with natural lightingNatural ventilation and simple low energy mechanical systemsAnti-seismic structure 

Food For The Poor's (FFTP) in-country partner for this project is Cáritas Arquidiocesana.

Completed project budgets are subject to change if not fully funded within six months. The completion date of this project may be extended for issues related to weather, natural disaster or civil unrest to the extent that such events exceed normal conditions and impede the project’s progress.

Total Project Costs: $338,058.87

Mixco, where the Juan Pablo II Maternal and Child Hospital is located, is a city and municipality in the department of Guatemala. It is next to the main Guatemala City municipality and has become part of the Guatemala City metropolitan area. Most of Mixco is separated from the city by canyons, for which a multitude of bridges have been created. 

Given the location of the hospital, most of its patients are from Mixco, Guatemala City, Sacatepéquez and Villa Nueva. But it also tends to people from all departments of Guatemala with limited resources looking for quality medical attention not found in other centers.

Guatemala Mixco

The largest country in Central America, Guatemala is home to approximately 18 million people. The distribution of income remains highly unequal with the richest 20% of the population accounting for more than 51% of Guatemala's overall consumption.

More than half of Guatemalans live below the poverty line, with 23% of the population living in extreme poverty. Poverty among indigenous groups, which make up more than 40% of the population, averages 79%, with 40% of the indigenous population living in extreme poverty. A sad result of this widespread poverty is that Guatemala has one of the highest rates of chronic child malnutrition in the world. 

Nearly one-half of Guatemala's children under age five are chronically malnourished. Guatemala's severe food insecurity and lack of accessible, affordable medical care has led to high infant, child and maternal mortality rates.

In order to help the people of Guatemala, Food For The Poor (FFTP) has worked with Cáritas Arquidiocesana for more than 10 years, which oversees many of the projects undertaken by FFTP in that country.

Within the constitution of Guatemala, it is stipulated that the enjoyment of health is a fundamental right for all; however, public hospitals are short in infrastructure, supplies and personnel, in addition to mismanagement of funding. Private hospitals, on the other hand, offer quality care, but the cost of services is unaffordable for people living in poverty.

Fortunately, there are a few charitable organizations that offer fine medical services to those most in need. Among them is the Juan Pablo II Maternal and Child Hospital; however, as a non-profit organization, it is always in need of funding through donor gifts. 

Since 1985, the Juan Pablo II Maternal and Child Hospital has been serving patients in great need. The hospital operates a permanent healthcare program of Cáritas Arquidiocesana of Guatemala, the social arm of the Archdiocese of Guatemala. 

The hospital receives $1.2 million from the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS by its acronym in Spanish), which is converted into direct support for in-patients, offering free initial consultations, tests, surgeries and hospitalization. However, the contribution that the MSPAS provides is only equivalent to 23% of the hospital's annual operating costs.

The hospital has also built strategic alliances to help patients during and after treatment, including Operation Smile (donating facial surgeries), Fundación Paiz (dedicated to the development and transformation of Guatemalan society through educational and cultural programs) and Fundación Semillas de Esperanza (promoting social inclusion, generating employment and fighting against domestic violence), among others.

With over 35 years of service, the hospital provides high-quality, timely, comprehensive humanitarian healthcare to children and adolescents from 0 to 17 years of age in over 20 pediatric specialties, including general pediatrics, endocrinology, nephrology, cardiology, gastroenterology, pulmonology, pediatric surgery, hematology, neurology, plastic surgery, infectious diseases, nutrition, dermatology, maxillofacial surgery, odontology, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, traumatology, orthopedics and physiotherapy. In addition to these, it serves women of all ages in the areas of maternity, gynecology and obstetrics. A number of services for the whole family are also offered, including nutrition, ophthalmology, clinical laboratory, x-rays and pharmacy.

Juan Pablo II Maternal and Child Hospital

Building a Third Level at the Green Building

In 2019, the Juan Pablo II Maternal and Child Hospital experienced a 15% growth in patient visits to the outpatient clinics. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the trend showed a slight decrease, but projections indicate that patient numbers will continue growing in the years to come.

During 2019, the hospital provided outpatient clinic services to more than 125,000 children ages 0 to 17 in general pediatric practices. In maternity, around 7,360 women were treated through outpatient consultations. More than 79,000 laboratory tests were also performed during this period. 

The hospital currently has 30 pediatrics clinics and four maternity clinics benefiting vulnerable Guatemalan patients, 45% of whom come from rural areas in the province where they do not have access to specialized and quality medical care.

These clinics, receiving an average of 350 visits per day, are always overcrowded by the growing number of patients waiting to be treated. The need is definitely there for more clinics and specialists and a critical need to expand the services. as the current facility does not have enough space for expansion.

USAID[1] through its ASHA[2] initiative, will implement a project for the construction of a new eco-friendly building at the Juan Pablo II Maternal and Child Hospital in Guatemala. The project entails the construction of a two-story hospital building that will expand the services currently provided through the outpatient maternity clinics and diagnostic laboratories. 

Cáritas Arquidiocesana, through your generous gifting, is set to build a third level that will include 15 pediatric outpatient clinics to serve the high volume of children coming daily to the hospital to receive treatment.

[1] The United States Agency for International Development is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance.

[2] American Schools and Hospitals Abroad provides assistance to overseas institutions to highlight American practices and catalyze collaboration between the United States and citizens of other countries.

By building a third level at the green building of the Juan Pablo II Maternal and Child Hospital, the institute will be able to expand its services and provide additional care to the growing population of Guatemalan patients, especially among those most vulnerable and with little or no resources. 

The additional space will make a significant contribution to high quality services provided to outpatient pediatric and maternal patients, including a diagnostic laboratory, who otherwise would not have access to treatment.

The space were the old pediatrics clinics are now will be used as a diagnostic area to include electroencephalograms, electrocardiograms, audio tympanometry, audiometry, and hearing screenings, as well as expansion of the dentistry department.

Construction of the three-story building will use green building techniques following design principles for a post-carbon, climate responsive environment:

The proposed building is designed to be highly energy efficient with insulated building envelopes; triple insulated glazing; and, wherever possible, passive solar heating with thermal mass storage systems. The building is designed to make the most of daylight for internal lighting and will use LED task lighting in combination with natural lighting. Additionally, it will be designed to allow for natural ventilation and simple low energy mechanical systems. The building will be designed for durability with an anti-seismic structure constructed with foundation footings and structural frames ,consisting of columns and continuous beams supporting slabs of reinforced concrete. The building’s well water and pumps will drain into the existing waste water treatment plant of the hospital, bringing the treated water and rainwater to the existing absorption well, which will in the future be connected to the municipal drains that do not yet exist. The building will comply with current regulations and standards for use by the disabled, all safety requirements and natural disaster evacuation requirements.The building can be serviced and maintained with local materials, parts and labor.  

The construction of the green building will improve the hospital’s sustainability so that it continues providing high quality pediatric and reproductive healthcare to vulnerable Guatemalan women and children, otherwise without access to adequate services. The additional space will allow for increased outpatient services, which means that more people will come to the hospital to purchase health services, which will increase the hospital's income.

USAID does not have the resources to build the third level and FFTP is you, our faithful donor, to help finance it to complete the new building.

The third floor is estimated to be built in seven months. It is important for Cáritas Arquidiocesana to be able to carry out the construction of the third level in the building at the same time construction starts through the ASHA grant, to make the construction processes more efficient and reduce costs. Construction for the new building will start in the fourth quarter of 2022.

"I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people 

and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security."

Jeremiah 33:6

Testimonial

Tap on the video below to hear Aníbal's life story from his 

mother and the help she is getting for her son at 

Juan Pablo II Maternal and Child Hospital.

GPS Coordinates: 14°38'21.3"N 90°35'16.9"W

Please click the map below to view the Google Maps location for Mixco, Guatemala, where FFTP will serve through this project.

Shown below is the overcrowded pediatrics waiting room at the Juan Pablo II Maternal and Child Hospital in Mixco, Guatemala.

The third level at the hospital's new green building will 

provide additional pediatric services and accommodate 

the growing number of people visiting the facilities.

The new green building where the pediatric clinic will be housed will 

be constructed using techniques following design principles to 

adjust to a post-carbon, climate-responsive environment.

With your gracious support, patients will be more comfortable in a spacious new pediatrics wing, to be located on the third level of the new green building.

Below, pregnant women waiting for prenatal consultation receive 

information from nurses and social workers at the hospital,

in preparation for their visit with a physician.

Through the support of our donors, FFTP has been able to serve various hospitals in Guatemala through vital projects like these, as shown in the video below. Together, let us work to expand the pediatrics area that will soon be relocated to the third level of the new green building.

Budget

Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feed millions of hungry children and families living in poverty primarily in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, water, medicine, educational materials, homes, support for vulnerable children, care for the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.

To view this proposal online, please visit: https://simplebooklet.com/KMMjG8g3nxVa2WaC5dsf9r

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