Linkenheimer is excited to announce the grand opening of the new Surgery Center in the Rio San Juan Region of Nicaragua. Since 2007, the firm has made seven trips to Nicaragua to provide eye and care to a region of 40,000 people that would otherwise never receive medical attention. John Jones has been leading these trips with Linkenheimer, Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary and St. Mark Lutheran Church. Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary has made six trips to the region, while St. Mark has sent teams almost every summer since 2006. Over the course of the past 14 years, John has personally examined over 25,000 people in the region, providing eye exams and prescription glasses.

Nicaragua is the 2nd poorest country in the western hemisphere behind Haiti. The area of Sabalos and the Rio San Juan is the poorest of all Nicaragua. Average per capita income for the country is about $400 and in the Rio San Juan it is closer to $200 per year. Few paying jobs exist with most people surviving on subsistence farming. The people though are very content and gracious. There are no other eye care or medical teams that make it to this part of the country. The work we do through the firm, Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary and St Mark Lutheran Church is the total eye care work provided to the population of over 40,000.

In 2010, John Jones and local leaders from the region began the long process of plotting out the idea for a permanent medical and surgery center in the area. Their fundraising campaign brought awareness to the dire situation local Nicaraguans faced in that area of the country. Most who live in the Rio San Juan would have to travel hours up river by boat or days on horseback to get to the nearest medical center in San Carlos. Many people would die or succumb to their injuries on the journey to San Carlos, including many pregnant women who would lose their babies and sometimes their own lives in an effort to get emergency medical attention.

John and local leaders realized that the people of that region deserved better than what their own government was providing. With an estimated cost of $135,000 to build the surgery center and more funds needed to equip it (an additional $200,000) and staff it, the journey began. And in early 2021, the Rio San Juan opened the doors to it’s first surgery center, providing emergency medical treatment, ultra sounds and other life saving procedures.

To our clients, friends and family, we thank you for your support of the firm over all these years, which makes missions and projects like these possible. Your support of Linkenheimer not only makes a difference in our local community, but globally as well. We’re grateful for the opportunity to continue serving and we thank you for partnering with us in this journey to make the world a better place.

To read about the firms most recent trip in 2020, click here.

Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary is moving to acquire a portable digital x-ray at the cost of about $40,000. If you would like to help out, contact John at jjones@linkcpa.com and he will connect you with the right people in Rotary.