Solidarity Bridge, a Catholic nonprofit based in Evanston, is making a significant impact nearly 5,000 miles away in Bolivia and Paraguay. The organization, founded in 1999, works with people and doctors in both countries to provide access to safe, affordable and timely surgeries.
Juan Lorenzo Hinojosa, founder of Solidarity Bridge, was born in Bolivia and spent years traveling between the United States and his home country. Hinojosa attended high school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then moved to the United States, where he earned a degree in petroleum engineering from Penn State University and met his wife, Sarah.
When Hinojosa was 8, he and his father visited a public hospital in Bolivia; that visit changed everything for him, he told the Roundtable in a recent interview.
“We entered the building, it was very poor, old and decrepit,” Hinojosa said. “We entered a medical ward where there had been an oil explosion and several workers had been badly burned. Just being in that environment, seeing the suffering of the people, seeing the needs so clearly, marked me deep in my heart and mind.”
As a young adult, Hinojosa began his journey toward Catholicism. He felt a need to address the urgent health needs in Latin America. This drive led Hinojosa to connect with Father Robert Oldershaw, who served the Chicago church for 44 years, after “retiring” in 2006. He was pastor of St. Nicholas Church for decades.
Recognizing the potential of Hinojosa’s vision, “Father Bob” brought his experience and helped create Solidarity Bridge. Closely tied to the Archdiocese of Chicago, the organization received strong support and shared a mission of service.
Solidarity Bridge offers year-round surgical programs that focus on four specialties: neurosurgery, gynecology, cardiac surgery and general surgery. Groups of surgeons, recovery specialists, social workers, team leaders and others travel from the Chicago area to Bolivia and Paraguay several times a year to perform lifesaving surgeries.
The teams work with sister organizations, the closest being Puente De Solidaridad in Bolivia, to connect people in need with surgeons in the United States.
“There are a number of sister organizations in South America,” Hinojosa said. “We are all working to meet the basic needs of people who desperately need help.”
The sister programs, also formed by Hinojosa, allow doctors from Bolivia and Paraguay to learn from each other through case exchanges with American doctors, emphasizing two-way learning.
Solidarity Bridge not only works with physicians to ensure that residents of Bolivia and Paraguay receive safe and effective surgical procedures, but also offers a mentorship program. Through conferences, courses, and experiences, Solidarity Bridge provides the medical communities of Bolivia and Paraguay with knowledge to improve their ability to provide care. A current effort is focused on training neurosurgery residents in Bolivia.
“It’s a mostly virtual project,” Hinojosa explained. “But it also includes American experts who go to Bolivia and Paraguay to help the medical community develop new techniques and provide useful information.”
This approach ensures that the impact of the work is lasting and deeply rooted in the communities the organizations serve.
Anne Rhomberg, Solidarity Bridge’s executive director, joined the organization in 2007 after hearing about it through St. Nicholas, Solidarity Bridge’s home parish.
“Over the years, our model has moved away from a mission-only approach to providing year-round support,” Rhomberg said. “Bolivians shouldn’t have to wait for a plane to get the care they need. They should have more equitable access to the care they need. That’s our goal.”
Rhomberg said the move to annual programs has been effective and rewarding.
“On my last trip to Bolivia, I was at the home of a patient who had had heart surgery,” Rhomberg said. “His wife met me at the door and greeted me with so much gratitude. She was in tears. And they explained to me why Grover needed this surgery and how, without that access to the care he needed, he wouldn’t be here. But he was going to be better now. His life was restored.”
The organization recently celebrated its 25th anniversary with a Silver Jubilee Gala, where it honored the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Dr. Enrique Via-Reque, who received the Founding Partner Award, and Father Oldershaw, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
“What started with just me has grown into a group of hundreds of collaborators, hospital leaders and surgeons,” Hinojosa said. “I anticipate that in the next 25 years we will continue to grow and develop and be able to work with other countries.”
