The clinical outreach component of the Project was initiated by Dr. Lou Netzer, a U.S. physician who settled in the rainforest along the shores of the Beni River after traveling extensively throughout the area.
While assessing the health needs in a few villages along the river, it became clear that the indigenous population of the region (primarily the Chimane, Mosetene, Tacana and Quechua Indians) historically had little to no access to primary health services. Health concerns like gastrointestinal infections, as well as malaria, leishmaniasis, tuberculosis, malnutrition, myriasis and impetigo, were rampant. The government health officials and local physicians lacked the resources and infrastructure to provide regular outreach services to the isolated villages.
Rio Beni Project Health Care Services
Clinical Outreach
At the request of a couple of neighboring villages, Dr. Netzer explored the idea of beginning a small project to at least cover some of the predominant health care needs. With the acceptance of his idea by national and local health and political authorities, and by the indigenous Indians in the area, mobile clinics were begun on a regular basis in mid-1998.
The work began slowly, and incorporated only a handful of villages along the Beni River. Interest in the Project grew quickly. Soon government health workers began to express their interest in traveling with the Project staff, which at this time consisted of a boat pilot and an auxiliary nurse. The first cooperation agreement between the Project and the local municipality of Rurrenabaque was signed in mid-1998.
The number of villages integrated into the Project expanded to 19 by the end of 2000, and requests by outlying villages continued to grow steadily. It became evident that a simple idea was turning into a growing and more complex Project, based on the health needs and requests from both villages and health authorities.
By 2005 the Project team had grown to five, providing regular primary care to over 40 villages.
Stationary Clinic
The Rio Beni Health Foundation maintains its office and clinic site in Rurrenabaque, Beni. The clinic is open for consults three days a week, and has a sliding scale of charges in order to see those patients living in and around the more urban areas Rurrenabaque and San Buenaventura with less-resources available for health care. The clinic serves as referral site for the health promoters when they diagnose more complex and serious cases in their communities. Close collaboration with the two closest hospitals allow the Project team to refer patients who need surgery or hospitalization, as well as available lab work.
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