In Ecuador, another of la Fundación Dale’s efforts (the Dale "to give" Foundation) is the implementation and development of health programs, including the creation of medical infrastructures and raising medical awareness in the rural communities.
La Fundación Dale
The initiative to develop the Dale Foundation started in 1998, when Dole began rapidly expanding operations in Ecuador with a series of new investments focused on increasing the number of Company-owned farms and building a private shipping port.
In the beginning, the Dale Foundation’s actions focused on farms owned by Dole and the surrounding areas. In 2004 however, the scope of the Foundation expanded and independent growers who produced for Dole were invited to contribute financially to the Foundation’s work.
The Foundation mainly focuses on three areas:
- Health Programs
- Education Programs
- Community Programs
Medical Dispensaries
The Dale Foundation has built 15 dispensaries to date, which are open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday and from 8.00 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.
The dispensaries are set up in portable buildings that are strategically located according to the concentration of farms, but can easily be moved to another location. In addition, there are five mobile units, which visit remote areas according to a pre-established program.
In addition to diagnosing illnesses and providing medicine to the communities, the medical staff is also qualified to perform minor surgeries.
This medical service is not limited to Dole employees, but is open to the communities at large. For a small fee, anyone living in the community can receive medical attention. In 2005, a total of 14,386 patients were treated.
Other Health and Medical Programs
The Foundation is also active in performing:
The objective of this program is to prevent diseases and detect ailments in a timely manner. In 2005, a total of 7,660 lab tests were performed.
The Dale Foundation’s medical staff visits each of the farms to carry out inoculation programs. For example in 2005 alone, a total of 7,335 people were vaccinated against tetanus and 2,093 people against hepatitis.
Thanks to the medical check-ups and diagnoses carried out by the Foundation’s medical services, critical health problems were detected in a timely manner for some people. When a serious ailment is found, the Foundation provides financial support for those individuals who need to seek specific treatments. The Foundation has established partnerships with different specialized medical centers, as a means to decrease treatment costs for our workers and their families. So far, the Company has been able to help hundreds of people receive necessary treatment at a lower cost.
- Medical Specialty Programs
The Foundation also provides specialty medical services such as: dentistry, dermatology and optometry.
- Uterine Cancer Prevention Programs
The Foundation has an active Uterine Cancer Prevention Program, which, in 2005 alone, enabled over 800 women to receive PAP smear tests.
- Deparasitization Programs
The Foundation also developed a deparasitization program as a way to decrease gastrointestinal diseases. In 2005, approximately 6,000 people were treated under this program.
- Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention Lectures
The Foundation provides people with advice on how to adopt measures to prevent sexually transmitted diseases. In 2005, approximately 5,000 people attended the lectures.