We need to update you all on the permit process for both the Medical Clinic and the Home for At Risk Children. We have been waiting on the approval of our permit renewal for Medical Clinic before the Home for At Risk Children can receive its initial permits. The Medical Clinic has gone through quite an extensive permit renewal process because for one, the Ecuadorian government has added a lot more requirements in the last year, but more because our clinic is transitioning from being a “Class A” Medical Clinic to a “Class B.” The “Class B” status is a higher grade level clinic that has come about because we have added the services of the laboratory and broadened the services of our pharmacy. This class change is, in general, a very good thing as it shows the higher level of services that we can provide which will broaden our outlook and the type of clients we will attract. This is all good. However, what has made things more difficult is that this change in class has brought quite a few additional requirements that need to be implemented in the clinic. The most costly and laborious of these is the need to add a wing onto the clinic which will provide bathrooms, a small office area and a larger waiting area. You can see the pictures below of this construction that began this past week. The overall cost of this construction is ,400. Our partner church, Iglesia Emanuel, and their Compassion Program have already provided ,800 to go toward this construction, so now we are lacking ,600, which are funds that were not anticipated for this year in the budget. If you would like to help us complete this construction, you can come on down and lend a helping hand or you can donate to our website and designate the gift as “Funds for Clinic Construction.” You can give here: https://www.santiagopartnership.org/give
