Volunteer Health Program: Dr. Del Negro’s Trip to the Dominican Republic

16 May Volunteer Health Program: Dr. Del Negro’s Trip to the Dominican Republic

At Del Negro & Senft Eye Associates, we pride ourselves on providing the highest levels of service to our patients. However, there are millions of people in the world who do not have access to the healthcare they need because of inadequate facilities and lack of funding. We try to help whenever we can through charitable donations and philanthropic ventures.

The Voluntary Health Program is a nonprofit organization that provides surgeries to underserved rural areas of Central America. Drs. Ralph and Robyn Del Negro, along with two of their children Ralph & Emily, recently returned from their 2013 mission to the Dominican Republic. Dr. Del Negro and other volunteer doctors performed 332 surgeries, including 161 cataract procedures.

Of the experience, Dr. Del Negro said, “It’s humbling to see how little some people in other parts of the world have. The lack of healthcare is astounding – people going blind waiting to have cataracts removed or even worse, living with untreated glaucoma or other treatable eye diseases that can cause blindness. We were there for such a short time, but being able to help even in a small way is gratifying.”