Montero Medical Missions Health Fair For Veterans

Please pass on the word to your fellow veterans. See you all there this Saturday. COL (R) Jim Ireland.

Upcoming Health Fair for Veterans

Montero Medical Missions' next Health Fair For Veterans is being held this Saturday, June 14, 2014 from 9am to 1pm at Lifestyle Building at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center (800 N. Battlefield Blvd, Chesapeake, VA 23320). Please help us spread the word!
The next and last fair for the year will be on October 11, 2014.

MMM Team Delivers Relief to Victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda

MMM team in charge of collection, storage and shipping of container[s] to Philippines in its relief efforts to devastated hospitals and clinics by super typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda, through the Department of Health.

Montero Medical Missions is continuing to send 40 ft. high cube containers [see photos] to the Philippines filled with hospital equipment and medical supplies. MMM’s in-kind donors, mainly Sentara Health Systems, Kerma Medical Products, Owens & Minor, Dr. Lucy's and others have generously continued their support to our humanitarian cause. MMM is most grateful indeed to all our financial and in-kind donors and benefactors. We are now working on our 4th and 5th containers.

MMM Welcome Video

MMM friends, we have a new video that introduces the MMM concept.  Click on the link below to view, please share and we truly appreciate your continued support.
http://youtu.be/klTmtA3kg6g
MMM Welcome Video

Montero Medical Missions would like to share the year's highlights.

As 2013 draws to a close, Montero Medical Missions would like to share the year's highlights:

* Hot off the press, MMM now has its own Shopping Portal, thanks to Dubli and the efforts of our board member, Dave Hall. Keeping up with the times, it allows anyone interested in our cause to Shop, Save and Support MMM through this search engine with cashback. Not too often do you find such an arrangement, where everyone wins. I therefore invite you to visit www.dubli.com/M040F and make things happen.

* The fully loaded 40 ft. container with donated hospital equipment and supplies, bound for MMM's newly adopted hospital, Adela Serra Ty Memorial Medical Center in Tandag, Surigao del Sur, Mindanao Philippines will sail Jan. 4, 2014 from Norfolk. Col. Jim Ireland,USA[R], expert logistician and MMM VP is instrumental in this endeavor, thus fulfilling his promise to the hospital personnel when we were there last July. This will then be followed with container[s] consigned to the Secretary of Health, Dr. Enrique Ona who will make the determination as to which of the 53 destroyed hospitals/clinics from super typhoon Haiyan/ Yolanda need the most help.

* Our final MMM fundraising social last Dec. 13th which was beautifully hosted by First Colonial Inn through its Marketing Director, Stacy Kenyon, a MMM board member, went very well. We feel that these on-going fundraisers continue to accomplish our goal of expanding MMM's base of friends, volunteers and supporters. The 'Final Fling' at the Monteros' Rural Retreat on Sept. 7th, Summer Bash at the Marina Shores Yacht Club on June 27th and the MASA-MMM Golf Tournament on April 8th at the Cypress Point Country Club, rounded up the fun, friendship-maker, fundraisers for the year. MMM looks forward to 2014 with gusto !

* On Dec. 6, 2013, MMM hosted a financially admirable fundraiser to benefit our Philippines Relief Efforts, thus helping the victims from the devastation of super typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. With community oriented Towne Bank and Chesapeake Regional Medical Center as anchor sponsors plus the outpouring of support from the Vietnamese and Indian communities on top of Filipino organizations and American friends, we raised over $ 50,000.00 and almost evenly split between American Red Cross and Montero Medical Missions.

* On Oct. 9, 2013, MMM attained a monumental recognition, when the American College of Surgeons at its 100th Annual Clinical Congress in Washington,D.C. allowed our well-received poster format presentation of the innovative MMM Health Fair for Veterans project. This quarterly event to screen and assist veterans in their healthcare needs is MMM's domestic/in-country project, to compliment our three international sustainable healthcare projects: MMM Eyesight 20/20, MMM Prosthesis and MMM Dental Care.

* Our MMM Active board has been newly reconstituted with three new members and three outgoing ones, who kindly opted to stay on MMM Advisory board. Jan Baillie, RN, Rory Fitzpatrick and Sandeep Samudre, PhD inject new blood to MMM. We owe Chance Wilson, Cyndi Smith and Earl Virts, CRNA a tremendous debt of gratitude for their invaluable service and contributions during these past 2 1/2 formative years of MMM.

* How MMM, still without a salaried employee accomplished all of the above, speaks volumes of the volunteer efforts that our MMM Active 'blue collar' board members have done. The T.E.A.M.[Together Everyone Achieves More] slogan continues to resonate to our community volunteers, many of them peerless in their dogged determination. MMM salutes them all.

* In our pipeline for missions next year:

June or July, 2014 in Joinville, Brazil; Chesapeake's sister city.

July 25 till Aug. 3, 2014 in Irosin, Sorsogon, Philippines

Aug. 1 till Aug. 10, 2014 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

* Just a Reminder: Contributions to tax-exempt MMM can be made to celebrate a life event, to honor someone's accomplishments or to memorialize a loved one. Better yet, contribute and join a medical mission trip of your choice, with MMM.

* To donate go to: www. monteromedicalmissions.org, thru pay pal.

Montero Medical Missions Adopts Mindanao Hospital

Tuesday, July 23, 2013 was a red-letter day for the province of Surigao del Sur in the island of Mindanao, Philippines. Its capital city of Tandag was the venue for the official signing of the Memorandum of Agreement documents in the adoption of the provincial hospital, Adela Serra Ty Memorial Medical Center by Montero Medical Missions. It was attended by no less than the Secretary and Undersecretary of Health, Drs. Enrique'Ike' Ona and Teodoro'Ted' Herbosa respectively. This is the first hospital adopted under the  auspices and control of the Department of Health, not the provincial government. There were 20 co-signatories, including six from Virginia: Montero Medical Missions, American Orthotic and Prosthetic Center, Beach Eye Care, Virginia Center for Eye Surgery, Community United Methodist Church, Philippine Medical Association of Southeastern Virginia.

This event was in concurrence with the three-day eyesight medical mission trip of MMM, led by our MMM Eyesight Programs Chairman, Virginia Beach-based ophthalmologist Peyton Neatrour,MD and participated by humanitarian ophthalmologists from neighboring provinces, namely: Drs. Joseph Custodio, Leonel Santos, Ed Tan, Matt Baruc and Noel Chua from Manila who is Chairman of the National Committee for Sight Preservation. 100 surgeries were performed and mainly cataract operations. There were 600 patients screened, refracted and given eyeglasses by optometrists, led by Dr. Chris Buniel, our Director of MMM Eyesight 20/20 Project. He was joined in by colleagues; Drs. Lance Buniel, Belinda Daus, Jonathan Dango and Ma.Teresa Cordovez.The Neatrour children joined by their church youth pastor Steve Watson, screened 400 patients for diabetes as they did two years ago with support from Eastern Virginia Medical School Strelitz Diabetes Center. The province responded to this dedicated family with a laudable Provincial Board Resolution, citing its own adoption of the Neatrour family: Peyton, Leslie, Kristin, Katie and Greg by the grateful people of Surigao del Sur.

Our second sustainable healthcare project, the MMM Prosthesis, founded and led by Mike Smith, CPO and owner of American Orthotic and Prosthetic Center, received a most pleasant surprise. We were told that it will have a 3000 sq.ft. space in the planned new administrative building where the MMM Eyesight 20/20 Center will also be located. Dr. Ona did the honors at the groundbreaking ceremony. This complements the newly built hospital. To top it all, we found a willing William Aguilar, President of 'Persons With Disabilities' to chair this project in the province. Rehabilitation physician, Mayla Tee,MD and technician Winnie Belosillo, both from Manila representing Physicians for Peace Philippines, joined Mike for a day in screening 30 amputees for eventual prosthesis fitting. After meeting with four government employed dentists, we laid the groundwork for our MMM Dental Care project and to be locally chaired by Dr. Earl Cloyd Mira. This involves a curriculum to train volunteer dental oral educators, preparatory to our plan to eventually graduate dental assistants. This third MMM healthcare project is chaired by Vicki Brett, Director of Dental Assisting Program at ECPI University in Va, Beach. Our consultant is Warren Sachs, DDS, a veteran missioner.

We were graciously hosted by the province of Surigao del Sur thru the excellent leadership of Gov. Johnny and civic leader Lelis Pimentel and by Tandag City thru Mayor Roxanne and former mayor Ayec Pimentel.

Back in States, we are now busy collecting usable and functional equipment and machines to send by year's end, via a 40 ft. container to MMM's newly adopted hospital which practically needs everything, according to our expert logistician, Jim Ireland and MMM benefactors, Jean and Sharon. MMM appreciates any cash donation thru pay pal or in-kind donation when applicable. We have a tax-exempt 501[c][3] status.

Philippine Medical Mission, July 18-29, 2013 and MMM Adoption of the Provincial Hospital in Tandag, Surigao del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines

Philippine Medical Mission, July 18-29, 2013 and MMM Adoption of the Provincial Hospital in Tandag, Surigao del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines:

Two years to the month after its historic medical mission trip to Tandag in July, 2011, the entire humanitarian/philanthropist Neatrour family will be back to Tandag to continue its support and nurture the Montero Medical Missions Eyesight 20/20 project it started. Back then, there were six in-country ophthalmologists who joined Dr. Peyton Neatrour in operating 140 patients, mostly cataract, in 21/2 days and distributed several hundreds of eyeglasses after thorough screening by optometrists.Through his determined efforts, Alcon, USA donated a phaco machine to the hospital. The Eyesight project, under the able directorship of optometrist Dr. Chris Buniel, has become a public-private partnership endeavor to strengthen its sustainability. This is our MMM flagship project, ready to be replicated in other countries.

This July, MMM is fortunate to have Mike Smith,CPO, owner of American Orthotic and Prosthetic Center, based in Chesapeake, to be in our team. He will start an MMM Prosthetic project in Tandag with plans to serve eastern Mindanao. We will do this in partnership with Physicians for Peace Philippines' Walking Free project , which he helped start.

What makes this trip truly remarkable is the planned signing of the documents on MMM Adoption of the Provincial Hospital--Adela Sierra Ty Memorial Medical Center, the second such adoption in the nation, but the first adopted hospital under the control of the Dept. of Health in Manila. We envision three sustainable healthcare projects to be based at ASTMMC, which will include Eyesight, Prosthesis and Dental Care. All three will serve as our MMM model to be replicated in other countries. We also have a logistician in our team, Col.[ret] Jim Ireland to assess all the needs of the hospital and to plan the donation process. And as promised to our benefactors, we heartily welcome the inclusion of Jean and her daughter Sharon to our team. There is always room for philanthropists to explore and to further humanitarianism. The team leaves Norfolk July 18 and return July 29, 2013.