Our Story.
the Beginning.
As an undergraduate, Wachalal's founder, Zack Self, spent time in Guatemala learning Spanish and interning at a medical clinic. During this formative time, he was profoundly impacted by the inequity of access to high quality healthcare and the needless suffering caused by such injustice.
He also met his now wife of 20+ years, Josefina. From the onset of their relationship, they nurtured dreams of returning to Guatemala to live out lives of pragmatic solidarity and provide the marginalized population of rural Guatemala with access to world-class healthcare.
Upon graduation from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Zack transitioned to residency training at the storied Ventura County Family Medicine Residency Program in Ventura, California.
Vision made Manifest.
Shortly after arrival in California, Zack connected with the individual who would drive the design and provide the plans for construction of APQ- our model, hybrid, health center.
Architect Taylor Simpson (husband of Dr. Kavi Simpson, one of Zack's residency classmates) possessed invaluable experience in the design of healthcare facilities coupled with the eye of an artist. He also had a heart for serving GOD and loving one's neighbors. He proved to be the perfect person to formulate and implement the design of our site.
Taylor and Zack met frequently over the ensuing years to put together the architectural plans for APQ.
In 2011, CONSTRUCTION COMMENCED...
In 2015, APQ opened its doors.
In May of 2015, we registered our first patients. A few highlights thus far include:
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50,000+ individual patient encounters
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2,000+ point-of-use water filters distributed as an official authorized distributor of Ecofiltros
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IDF certified diabetic educator and initiation of remarkably effective Diabetes Program
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Host site for Global Health Fellows
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Addition of ambulance for patient transport
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N. Barrett Self Memorial Medical Student scholarship fund
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Recent upgrades to laboratory capabilities
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Pending addition of AI powered Digital X-Ray.
We are excited to see how the rest of our story unfolds.
We greatly value all of our generous coconspirators who have helped make a positive impact in the lives of our patients.