Dialysis advocate Jose Cruz and his wife Milene are headed for Guatemala City tonight, where they will spend the next week in hospitals attending to Jose’s various health problems.
Today, they were helped on their way by a donation of $5,000 from the Belize City Council and Belize Waste Control (BWC), handed over at City Hall this morning.
Jose Cruz is a former Cooperatives Officer in the Department of Cooperatives, and today, his former supervisor, Mayor of Belize City Zenaida Moya Flowers, recounted how “Fudge” (her nickname for him) was tenacious in his duties and lauded his switch to being an advocate for improving the standard of Belizean healthcare, particularly tertiary care.
Jose Cruz has been in the news for some time, as he and fellow dialysis patients fought Belize Healthcare Partners Limited (BHPL) over their handling of the dialysis department and particularly, the resignation of Nurse Maria Ack in December.
This morning, while expressing his appreciation for the donation, Cruz maintained to members of the press that his fight for better tertiary care and healthcare in general in Belize will continue, and that “we are going to change (the health system) in this country.”
His wife, Milene, echoed her husband’s sentiments, stating that she believes Belizeans have the power to demand and get better tertiary care in the public hospitals.
Between several initiatives and donations, Cruz has managed to raise an estimated $16,500 since he began his appeal in December. Cruz will be treated at the Napoles and Pan American Hospitals in Guatemala City, the former under the care of Dr. Otto Ruano Wegener, a noted physician.
Cruz also announced plans today to make a donation to young Tarell Sutherland, the 4-year-old afflicted with the skin disease ichthyosis, who is currently in the United States receiving treatment.