Team provides free clinic care to Palau islanders

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Orville F. Desjarlais Jr.
  • Air Force Print News
BABLEDAOB, Palau (AFPN) --  A physician assistant recently arrived here to provide free health care to islanders who cannot afford local hospital fees.

Being the only health care provider on the largest Palau island, is a challenge that Capt. Dan Calderon is excited to undertake.

“When I first heard about this (three-month temporary duty assignment) I got excited,” said the captain, who arrived here from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, earlier this month.

As a member of a civic action team comprised entirely of Airmen from around the world, the captain is in charge of the medical civic action program. The program is designed to work with local medical and U.S. Public Health Services officials to establish and carry out free, limited health care to anyone here who needs it. The captain also provides care for the 12 other CAT members.

“I treat mostly foreign nationals from Bangladesh, China, the Philippines and Palauans,” he said.

A majority of the captain’s patients are here with work-permit visas and cannot afford the $80 fee charged by the local hospital. If he has the medication a patient needs, he gives it to them. If not, he writes them a prescription that they can get filled in downtown Korer.

His biggest challenge is getting used to how things are done around here. With no colleagues around or nearby support, he must rely on telephones, the local hospital and advice from doctors at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

“There are not auxiliary services here (at the camp),” Captain Calderon said. “I can’t just order up X-rays or blood tests. I have to work with the local hospital for those things.”

He works in a modest clinic at the camp, a series of buildings where CAT members work, eat and sleep. Five kitchen-table chairs lined against the wall act as a waiting area, while a blue curtain strung from a rod across from the chairs provides patient privacy.

He and his assistant, Georgia Renguul, a participant in the apprentice training program, provide only outpatient care, treating mostly for diabetes, hypertension, colds and other mild maladies. In a pinch, they can also cast a simple bone fracture and make splints.

So far this month, he has treated 63 patients. Last month, his predecessor treated nearly 180 people. And they weren’t all local. Captain Calderon, like the PA before him, will be expected to venture out to nearby, remote islands to offer his services there.

Some islands are only accessible by boat. When he travels to these locations, the captain provides the same services there as he does here. As an added benefit, the team usually sets out fishing lines and trolls to the island, hoping to catch fish along the way.

“The people are very thankful that we’re here,” the captain said. “I like the fact that we care for local people who don’t have a lot of money. I think we’re doing a good job here.”