MEDICAL MISSIONARIES INC
People of all faiths helping the poorest of the poor
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Medical Missionaries seeks to improve healthcare for the poor in the USA and elsewhere in the world. It was founded by Dr. Gil Irwin, a medical doctor who visited the Haiti-Dominican Republic border in 1997. He saw first-hand that poverty and disease were rampant. The poor suffered from disease and illness caused by unsafe water, malnutrition, and a lack of sanitation. Infant/maternal mortality rates were high. There was no access to even the most basic medical care. Seeing such suffering from the lack of basic needs, he became determined to help improve healthcare in this area. Dr. Irwin had always helped those in need and founded Medical Missionaries as a way to expand his efforts. (Early in his medical career, he saw that local inner-city communities were underserved when it came to healthcare, so helped to procure a budget increase for their healthcare. He also collected medical supplies to donate both in the USA and overseas.)
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
St. Joseph Clinic, Thomassique, Haiti
In 1997 Medical Missionaries sent volunteer medical teams to go to the Haiti-Dominican Republic border to provide medical care to this region that suffered from having had no access to healthcare. In 2007, Medical Missionaries built a state-of-the-art clinic (hospital) that was the first permanent medical facility in this region of more than 125,000 people. It serves the residents of Thomassique and of its outlying villages. St. Joseph Clinic is staffed by Haitian medical professionals. They serve between 100 and 150 patients each day and facilitate an average of 40 births each month via the MIC program. The Medika Mamba program offers nutritional supplements. Medical teams from the U.S. have visited the clinic each year to assist with special procedures and to provide professional development for the Haitian staff. This practice has been on hold due to Covid restrictions and the current political environment; however the clinic team meets weekly virtually with the US team.
Providing Aid in the USA
Medical Missionaries collects, processes, packages and donates items including medical supplies and equipment, clothing, hygiene and household supplies to those in need in the USA, primarily in the Virginia/DC area, West Virginia, Appalachia and Native American Reservations throughout the US.
We have also sent disaster relief supplies for victims of hurricanes, floods and tornadoes in the USA such as Kentucky (2022), Florida (Hurricane Irma, 2017), Texas (Hurricane Harvey, 2017), New Jersey Shore (Hurricane Sandy, 2012), and Louisiana (Hurricane Katrina, 2005) and North/South Carolina floods. We also sent support for the Haiti Earthquake (2010) and the Southeast Tsumani (2004).
International Shipments of Medical Supplies
Medical Missionaries sends 40 foot sea containers of medical supplies and equipment to help build and support infrastructure in poor areas of the world, particularly Africa (including Guinea Bisseau, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jamaica, Honduras).
Our volunteers secure supplies, sort and prepare them for shipment, and load the sea containers.
Through 2023, we have sent over 200 sea containers of health equipment and supplies worldwide to those in need.
Global Health Fellowship Program
Our Global Health Fellowship Program has helped a new generation of healthcare professionals prepare to serve the poor in underdeveloped areas.
Until 2022 we selected graduates from U.S. colleges and universities who planned to pursue an advanced degree in medicine and/or public health to serve for a full year as GHFs in Thomassique, Haiti at St. Joseph Clinic. Unfortunately due to Covid restrictions and current political instability the program is on hold. However GHFs serve as support for the Clinic staff and we have compiled a list of over 100 graduates who are interested in the program when it resumes.
During their year in Haiti, Fellows serve as prime contacts between Medical Missionaries and St. Joseph Clinic in Thomassique. They coordinate several health and community projects involving mobile clinics, community health, Maternal and Infant Care (MIC), vaccination and malnutrition programs, among other responsibilities such as collecting data and developing systems.
Local Community Support
Medical Missionaries saw an uptick in community needs during Covid as medical and healthcare support decreased. Medical supplies and equipment drop-offs increased so that the Manassas office was able to keep up with the demand. Given the amount of people in the community who are uninsured or underinsured we continue to see a request for adult items (diapers, bed pads, hygiene), medical equipment (canes, wheelchairs, commodes) and supplies (cleaning, oral) who come to the Manassas office on a daily basis. These are the people who are falling through the cracks without support from an organization like Medical Missionaries. We have also seen an increase in referrals from local agencies such as hospice care units, school therapists and social workers, local physician offices and the Free Clinic system, among others.
Special Projects
Upon request and based on availability of supplies, Medical Missionaries support a variety of projects outside the areas listed. To date, we support two breast cancer programs in the Midwest with mastectomy items, medical supplies for The Traveling Colonels who travel to Ukraine to support front line clinics, short term medical missions, orphanage/pediatric clinic in Cameroon, West Africa, barrios villages in Jamaica, children's clinics in Ivory Coast. Interested parties can contact Medical Missionaries to see if their mission can be supported by our inventory.
World wide Partnerships
Medical Missionaries has benefited since its inception with partners that include government departments, private foundations, local agencies, non-profits. We are a long-standing member of the Parish Twinning Program of the Americas (PTPA), US Global Leadership Coalition, Partners in Health, MSPP (Ministry of Health in Haiti). We work in collaboration with local community groups and agencies, clinics, schools, church groups and others who support our work with donations as well as being recipients of donations from Medical Missionaries.
Where we work
Photos
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Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of pregnant women giving birth at a health facility
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls
Related Program
St. Joseph Clinic, Thomassique, Haiti
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
A goal of our Maternity Program is to mitigate the low survival rate of infants in Haiti. The Clinic not only assists with births, but also offers prenatal & postnatal visits, & educates new Mothers.
Shipments of Aid to Appalachia
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Providing Aid in the USA
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Since 2017 food & household supplies have been sent to those in need in Southwest VA (Grundy) in Appalachia. Each shipment includes 2-4,500 lbs of non-perishable food, baby food & household supplies.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
In Haiti and the Dominican Republic, our goal is to improve access to basic healthcare along the Haiti-Dominican Republic border. In the short term our goal was to send medical teams each year to provide medical care and vaccinations, and perform basic procedures and surgeries. Seeing the need for providing more continual health care, our long term goal was to build a Clinic in Thomassique, Haiti, which would be the first permanent medical facility in this region. Beyond this, the goal is to train Haitians to be self-sufficient in running and funding the Clinic and community health programs in remote outlying villages.
Beyond Haiti and the Dominican Republic, another goal has been to improve healthcare for the poorest of the poor by partnering with other NGOs and sending shipments of supplies (medicines, medical equipment and supplies, hygiene and household supplies) to those in need in the USA and elsewhere in the world (including disaster relief efforts).
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Establishing Medical Missionaries, Dr. Irwin's strategy was to bring together a volunteer group of doctors, nurses, dentists, and others to work together to improve the health of the poorest of the poor.
Dr. Irwin initially assembled a team of volunteer doctors and nurses to go with him to the Haiti-Dominican Republic border to assess available medical care in the region. They gathered supplies, medicines, equipment and vaccines to carry with them so they could provide medical care in remote villages there. Dr. Irwin assembled another group of volunteers to provide on-the-ground support for the professional teams by securing, sorting, warehousing, and shipping the needed supplies.
This was the beginning of Medical Missionaries. And the beginning of a constantly growing network of professional contacts and new partnerships that make the work of Medical Missionaries possible.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Medical Missionaries quickly grew into a volunteer group of more than 200 doctors, nurses, dentists, and others who shared a commitment to work to improve the health of the poor in the USA and throughout the world.
These volunteers, along with partnerships that continue to be formed (both within the USA, Haiti, and elsewhere internationally), and committed donors and supporters, have provided the organization with the resources and capabilities needed to support our efforts.
Our ability to provide medicines and medical supplies to those in need is made possible through partnerships with USA sources of supplies that have been generous in supporting our efforts.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Medical Missionaries began in 1997, when Dr. Irwin gathered volunteer doctors and nurses to go to the Haiti-Dominican Republic border to provide medical care. In the ensuing years, medical teams returned regularly.
Seeing the need for ongoing medical care in the region, Medical Missionaries built and supports St. Joseph Clinic in Thomassique, Haiti. Opened in 2007, it was the first permanent medical facility in this region of more than 125,000 people.
By the end of its 20th anniversary year in 2017, Medical Missionaries expanded its efforts, introducing more Clinic programs:
• St. Joseph Clinic (Treats about 25,000 each year)
• Visiting Medical Teams (Treat patients & train Haitian staff)
• Global Health Fellows Program (Pre-med/public health students serve at the Clinic)
• Maternal & Infant Care Program (To reduce high mortality rates)
• Medika Mamba (Fights childhood malnutrition)
• School Lunch Program (Feeds almost 1,000 children)
• Water Purification (9,000 households reached)
• Bon Sel/Good Salt (To eradicate lymphatic filariasis)
• Vaccination Program (Thousands of life-saving vaccinations given each year)
• Community Health Centers (To provide basic healthcare in remote villages)
Elsewhere, Medical Missionaries has also provided supplies to those in need in the USA and worldwide. We work with partner groups to send supplies to help build healthcare infrastructure in poor areas of the world. Closer to home, we provide supplies to those in need in the USA, especially the Washington DC area, Appalachia, and the Midwest.
Through 2017, we have sent 173 sea containers of supplies worldwide, supported 30 local health groups, made over 300 trips to West Virginia, Appalachia, and American Indian reservations in the Midwest. We sent disaster relief for victims of hurricanes, floods and tornadoes in the US (including Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Mississippi, & Louisiana).
Over the years, the vision of Medical Missionaries has expanded. What started as an annual trip to improve healthcare in a small corner of Haiti-Dominican Republic has expanded to include building a healthcare facility in Haiti, helping those in need in the USA, and helping other organizations in Third World countries.
Moving forward, Medical Missionaries will continue to send supplies in the USA, and continue to partner with and support healthcare organizations in other parts of the world.
The nature of our work in Haiti has already begun to change, as we transition from providing direct service and support of the Clinic to an emphasis on training the Haitian staff and community leaders to become more self-sufficient in running the Clinic and its programs. We will continue to support the Clinic with an annual grant, along with sending visiting medical teams.
Medical Missionaries has been and will continue to be an effort of hundreds of individuals committed to helping improve the lives of others. We look forward to many more years of service to the poorest of the poor.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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MEDICAL MISSIONARIES INC
Board of directorsas of 01/27/2024
Dr. Gilbert Irwin
Brian Brenner
Edward Wyrsch
CPA
Anna Penna
MD
Carolyn Jeans
RN
Kenneth Kornetsky
MD
Gilbert Irwin
MD
Debra Parrish
RN
David Snyder
MD
Gachard Jean Pierre
Tim Purnell
Attny
Pete Silva
Nick Cuneo
MD
Julian Hertz
MD