Surgical Operations 2023: we continue to benefit children and adolescents throughout Chile

It has been 10 years since we started with our surgical area, and certainly this 2023 we could not stop. For this reason, to start this new year, we began in January with our Surgical Operations visiting with our team of volunteer specialists the beautiful city of Coyhaique .

Thus, on January 9 and 10, we carried out the first operation of the year together with the Regional Hospital of Coyhaique, performing high complexity surgeriesWe carried out the first operation of the year together with the Regional Hospital of Coyhaique, performing high complexity surgeries, working together with the children's nephrology polyclinic and the kinesiology area, benefiting 41 children, being able to give them a timely operation and prevent them from having a kidney disease. children, being able to give them an operation in time and prevent them from having a renal disease.

We thank our team of volunteer doctors, Dr. Bernardita Troncoso and Dr. Luis Bofil, our kinesiologists Belén Sánchez and Macarena Sola, and Constanza Olivares, nurse assistant director of health of the Corporation; as well as the team of local pilot doctors , Dr. Armando Velazco and Dr. Constanza Opazo, and our great friend and coordinating doctor on this occasion, Dr. Rodrigo Verdugo.

Dr. José Manuel Escala is the founder and president of Corporación Mater. As the organization marks its 30th anniversary, we sat down with him to discuss its origins, its major achievements, and the need to carry this work forward—a conversation in which he also acknowledges and thanks those who have played a vital role along the way.

For the past four years, Constanza Olivares has been the coordinator of highly complex surgical operations carried out by the MATER Corporation throughout Chile. A nurse and midwife by profession, she speaks of her work with conviction and gratitude: "The Corporation has allowed me to develop not only professionally, but also to provide more care to patients. And that, for me, is tremendously satisfying."

Anesthesiologist Virginia Montecinos has just completed ten operations as a volunteer at Corporación Mater. This number speaks to her perseverance, but above all, her conviction. We spoke with her to find out what motivated her to join, what she has learned along the way, and why, in her opinion, volunteering not only transforms the lives of children and their families, but also those who participate in it.

The catalog, designed by artist Angelito Peñaranda, invites companies to give meaningful gifts that support the health of children awaiting medical care in Chile.

We worked hard throughout 2025 to reduce waiting times for children throughout Chile, providing them with adequate, high-quality healthcare.

The work of volunteer doctors is at the heart of Corporación MATER, because it allows us to fulfill our purpose of providing timely, quality healthcare, shortening the wait times for hundreds of children throughout Chile, as well as demonstrating the impact that collaboration can achieve.

Surgical Operations 2023: we continue to benefit children and adolescents throughout Chile

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