Dentist returns from humanitarian mission to Central, South America

By Stefanie Donahue

Blaine dentist Patrick Rooney recently concluded an 11-week mission as part of the U.S. Southern Command’s Enduring Promise initiative. While aboard the USNS Comfort, he traveled to Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Honduras to provide dental care to people in need.

“The comfort deployment is all about building relationships,” said captain William Shafley in a statement released by the U.S. Navy.

“Bringing our partners out here to see what the U.S. Navy does, how we are integrating non-governmental organizations, such as the white helmets commission, not only strengthens our existing ties in the region, but it opens new lines of communication,” he added.

The mission, which spanned from October to December,  marked the sixth deployment of the USNS Comfort to Latin America and the Caribbean since 2007.

According to the U.S. Southern Command, health practitioners from the U.S. and partner nations provided medical, dental and optometry services to 26,701 patients – approximately 8,000 of which were dental patients, Rooney said.

“It was the professional highlight of my dental career,” he said.

This wasn’t the first time Rooney boarded a U.S. Navy hospital ship to help people in need.

Along with 1,200 medical corpsman and civilian volunteers, he provided dental care to people in Timor-Leste, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia as part of Pacific Partnership in 2016.

To learn more about the enduring promise initiative, visit bit.ly/2Da7gV0.