Shriners Hospitals Expands in Mexico

Dear Fellow Nobles,

The world has become a much smaller place. Shriners Hospitals for Children® has a global reputation for compassion and excellence, and continues to expand its efforts to reach as many children who may need the services of our unique health care system, regardless of where they live.

We have implemented an international strategic plan that will help us serve the children of the world more effectively and efficiently, and closer to their homes. Under the direction of Marjorie McEttrick-Maloney, RN, BSN, MPA/H, our chief nursing officer, and with guidance from a consultant, this plan streamlines our international services, and includes initiatives for many parts of the world, including Brazil, the Philippines, Canada and Mexico. Today, I would like to share some exciting developments in our strategy for the children of Mexico.

Shriners Hospitals has had a presence in Tijuana, Mexico, for many years. From 1998 to 2012, we held outreach clinics at Hospital Infantil de las California (HIC). In 2012, we opened an ambulatory clinic adjacent to HIC. We recently moved our clinic to within Hospital Angeles in Tijuana in order to provide additional services, including inpatient and more complex surgical treatments. Today, that clinic, which is under the direction of our Pasadena, California, location, serves more than 10,000 children annually, providing orthopaedic surgical care and outpatient clinic visits, including orthotics and prosthetics services.
Based on our desire to increase our presence in Mexico, and the success of our clinic in Tijuana, we are pursuing discussions with Hospital Angeles officials to establish similar clinics at their locations in Guadalajara, Monterrey and Juarez, Mexico. If these clinics also are successful and meet our goals of reaching and caring for the children who need our expertise, we will have additional conversations with a goal of further expanding these efforts.Hospital Angeles has approximately 30 locations throughout Mexico, which could provide an opportunity for Shriners Hospitals to establish a network of affiliated clinics.
Obviously, there will be many details to work out, from staffing to space allotments, but the possibilities are tremendous – and fit well with the mission and goals of Shriners Hospitals for Children, especially as we seek to increase our affiliations and access points in order to reach and treat more children effectively, efficiently and closer to their homes.

An important part of our international strategic plan is including educational programs for local medical professionals in our outreach efforts. Ultimately, this will allow more children to receive care in their home countries, rather than needing to travel to the U.S. for care. Of course, we will always refer children to our facilities if that is the best course of action for them.
These are especially challenging times, as we work within the restrictions caused by the pandemic, but they are also exciting times with great promise for the future of our unique, compassionate health care system.

I look forward to sharing information about our strategic plans for other international locations in the future.

Thank you for all you do to support Shriners International and Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Yours in the faith,

Jerry G. Gantt
Chairman, Board of Trustees
Shriners Hospitals for Children