JALPATAGUA, GUATEMALA

 

 

 

Guatemala is a country with a long, tumultuous history of civil war and class violence. Since 1996 the government has been relatively stable, but the depressed economy and lack of well-implemented economic infrastructure has hampered the development of widely available high quality healthcare outside of the larger cities.  Jalpatagua is a town of 20,000 located in the southeastern region of the country. San Juan Bautista Hospital is a small 40 bed hospital in Jalpatagua serving a catchment  area of approximately 100,000 people. It is partially self-founded institution outside the government healthcare network with funding primarily derived from private donations. Padre Jose Camilleri is a Maltese priest who is one of the original founders of the hospital. He has worked tirelessly for over fifteen years to keep the hospital continuously open and functioning for the community.