About
The Organization for Community Health Outreach (OCHO) was created to serve the health needs of the rural poor. In remote areas of Central America, rural inhabitants lack the most basic of medical services. It is the objective of OCHO to provide quality medical care while developing sustainable health services to the public.
OCHO has a long-standing commitment to the world's most remote poor. OCHO's MISSION is to improve the healthcare infrastructure for remote areas in a way that empowers people to cultivate their community.
Early efforts
A partnership between the Church of the Redeemer (Baltimore, MD) and the Honduran Episcopal Diocese was sealed after the devastation of Hurricane Mitch in 1998 to Honduras, the third poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Over the next two years, a medical team was organized to provide health care to one of the most underserved and remote areas of Honduras. Atíma, a town of about 10,000 people in the mountains of the Santa Barbara department was selected.
Atíma and its surrounding villages are amongst the poorest areas in Honduras. Residents in these communities have little access to regular medical care and many suffer from poor nutrition. Most of the villagers live in one room mud houses with dirt floors and no running water.
Read more about the ONGOING MEDICAL MISSION to Atíma, Honduras.
In order to advance and expand the efforts made by the long-standing association, the Organization for Community Health Outreach was established as a registered non-profit organization in January of 2010. OCHO volunteers have contributed over a decade of service to an adopted remote population in Honduras.
Board of Directors
John Wogan, MD FACEP - President
Patrick Ercole, PhD, MPH - Vice President/Secretary
Mike Linnan, D.D.S. - Treasurer
Cathy Lears Bennett
Robert Ercole, Esq.
Howard Hauptman, M.D.
Cristina Paglinauan, M. Div.
Cristina Saenz de Tejada, PhD
Ken Tellerman, M.D.
OCHO has a countless number of volunteers and partners who collaborate with the board of directors to constantly improve the extent and impact of our efforts.
Learn more on how you can BE PART OF OCHO'S MISSION by volunteering time or services or DONATE TO OCHO.
