Our morning began with a presentation of Medical Missions Foundation lab coats to doctors Doug Hagen and Joe Cannova in honor of their work on previous and current missions. Next was a tour of the hospital, guided by Dr. Claudio Gonzales, Medical Director of International Missions. Ombras del Hermano Pedro, the hospital in which we are based, plays an important role in the medical community in Antigua. Ombras averages about 280 patients at a time and offers outpatient medical and surgical care, as well as providing residential care for individuals with mental and physical impairments. The hospital complex has a school, computer lab, and provides many related services, such as disease prevention, classes for nutrition, physical therapy and treatment for substance abuse.
The kitchen serves 1300 meals per day, not only for patients, but for their families as well. Although the hospital has a staff of 300, volunteers play a vital role in providing services. We visited a variety of the wards, and were impressed with both the physical facilities and the devotion of the staff.
Particularly touching were the babies with cleft palates and lips, many of whom must remain at the hospital before surgery in order to gain weight. 
After the tour of the hospital the team swung into action. Triage was an amazing process. The hallways were lined with potential patients and often, their multigenerational family groupings. Stephene Moore, Mission Coordinator, reported that Tammy Neblock-Beirne had 90 people to screen for general surgery, Joe Cannova was planning to screen 40 for plastic surgery, and Chris Cannova was to screen 55 people for orthopedic surgery. In addition, those scheduled for surgery were also seen by the anesthesia team consisting of Doug Hagen, Mike McCartney, Josie Bell, and Reidun Fuemmeler.
Adults and children enjoyed having their picture taken by Scott Krigel - for many, it was the first picture they had of themselves. Matt Beirne manned the picture printer faithfully for hours.
Tomorrow surgeries begin!
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