Projekt-Nr.: 30-003

It all started in a garage -
meanwhile about 8000 annual
in-patient treatments

In 2009, Erwin Martens and his family moved from Germany to Bolivia to open a clinic "in the country" to establish medical care for all inhabitants in the environs.

The clinic is constantly overcrowded,
there are not enough beds for everyone. 

To form our own impressions of the conditions and the reliability of the guidance, we were on the ground in 2021 and are truly impressed!

The name of the clinic says it all: "Medifam", which means "medical family". Grown children of the families attend medical programs and support their parents with all their energy.

In times of the Corona-pandemic, a part of the population in Bolivia installed roadblocks on the way to Santa Cruz, the nearest large city - installed them to moderate the flow of patients to the clinics in the city. This has led the patients to Centro Medico MEDIFAM. The clinic with 8 beds for inpatients had to expand to a 40 bed clinic in a very short period of time, to be able to intercept and host the amount of patients.

Erwin Martens acts according to the principle: "First treat the patient - then manage the finances" - because he knows, that many patients are already in high debt and cannot pay for the treatment in advance. By now, the open account is over 70.000 Dollars, but stopping a treatment until the patient settles the invoice is in conflict with his conscience, as the people are in desperate need of medical treatment! 

Our aims:

• Support the expansion
• Ensure medical treatment for poor population through donations in kind and money
• Encourage training of medical staff