We are dedicated to providing world-class surgical and primary care to underserved communities, as well as empowering volunteers to make a positive impact on global health. We are committed to sustainability, education, and collaboration with our community partners, as demonstrated by the fact that half of our Honduran surgery center staff members were raised on the NPH children’s home where our surgery center is located.
One World Surgery focuses heavily on forming local partnerships and capacity-building, with our surgical and primary care medical missions serving as a catalyst. While our fully-functioning, Honduran staff leads the surgery center that serves patients on a daily basis, volunteers provide additional personnel support, education, and an extension into specialty services. This allows us to assure that patients are offered the continuity of care that is essential to successful outcomes.
16,200
150,000
Volunteers and donors are the heartbeat of our organization. You can give your time, talent, and treasures knowing your gifts will transform lives.
Our mission is equally focused on providing access to surgical care and igniting the spirit of service. One World Surgery’s three cornerstone programs include operating global surgery centers, leading medical missions and supporting local medical communities through education and training.
The impact of our work is immediately apparent when our patients leave our facility, not only physically healed; but with smiles on their faces and a renewed sense of hope for the future.
One World Surgery funds and operates the Holy Family Surgery Center, which has three operating rooms, seven overnight recovery bays, a dental clinic and an eye clinic. Dr. Merlin Antúnez, orthopedic surgeon, is the full-time, on-site Medical Director. Providing this continuity of care and operating a standalone facility are unique and rare within the nonprofit surgical care space. After surgery, our patients can return to work, care for their families, and choose their own destiny.
Based on our impact and success in Honduras, we expanded to the Dominican Republic. We started hosting primary care medical missions in the fall of 2019 and began construction on our second site. We conducted a needs assessment and began hosting mobile primary care missions that address acute and chronic health conditions of patients in the surrounding communities, called bateys. We then launched our primary care program alongside our partner Optum in 2021 and opened the first-ever ambulatory surgery center in the history of the Dominican Republic in 2024. Our fully operational site includes a surgery center, primary care clinic, and visitor center. We are located in the Dominican Republic between Santo Domingo and Punta Cana on the property of our partner, Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH). We offer primary care, surgical care, and optometry services both to local Dominicans and Haitian immigrants.
Education is the most powerful tool to change the world. The conference center in Honduras was built to host our education and training programming. Our focus on education, training, and capacity-building assures that we are not only filling a gap in the current medical system but also investing in the future of surgical care for the countries we serve. We are proud to build community healthcare capacity through continuing education, training and certification for in-country clinical staff, students, and the healthcare community, and fellowships and scholarships to improve and enhance healthcare delivery.
During weeklong medical mission trips, physicians, other clinical participants, nonclinical participants, and family members come together to provide life-changing surgeries, primary care, and dental services. One World Surgery organizes surgical and primary care missions to its facility in Honduras and the Dominican Republic.
