Bringing Laboratory Testing Closer to Patients in Honduras
People are so appreciative when you provide something they don’t have access to.”— Richard “Rick” MacKenzie, former
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ALLENTOWN, PA, UNITED STATES, October 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — For more than two decades, the Manos Amigas Clinic in Honduras has provided healthcare to people who might not otherwise be able to afford it. HNL Lab Medicine is honored to support that mission through a donation of laboratory equipment that will help the clinic continue caring for its community.
The story of Manos Amigas began when Dr. Robert Sumner traveled to La Entrada, Honduras, on a mission trip, hoping to help people in need. During the trip, he witnessed firsthand how difficult it was for many people in the community to access healthcare. At the end of the week, he saw more than 100 people standing outside a fence, many of whom had come for medical care but were unable to receive it.
The experience stayed with Dr. Sumner. When he returned home, he shared his vision of creating a permanent clinic in Honduras where people could receive quality healthcare regardless of their ability to pay. With support from those who donated money, equipment, supplies, time, and skills, that vision became the Manos Amigas Clinic.
Today, the clinic continues to provide healthcare to patients in Honduras who may otherwise have limited access to affordable medical services. For many people, simply reaching the clinic can be a challenge.
“There’s a clinic and many villages,” said Richard “Rick” MacKenzie, former Senior Vice Chair of Emergency Medicine and a board member of Serving at the Crossroads. “Some of the people in the villages cannot travel to the clinic. Since everyone cannot get that access, we hope to get into the villages to provide them with the care they need.”
The clinic serves several villages, with travel times ranging from 30 minutes to as long as an hour and a half. Bringing testing equipment into these communities could help healthcare providers gather important information without requiring every patient to travel to the clinic.
As part of that effort, HNL Lab Medicine is donating three handheld laboratory analyzers to Manos Amigas. The devices can quickly test a patient’s blood and provide important health information, including sodium and potassium levels. The analyzers will give healthcare providers another tool to support patients both at the clinic and in the villages they serve.
Rick traveled to Honduras in April and was invited to join the Serving at the Crossroads board in June. Through his involvement with the organization, he recognized the need for point-of-care laboratory testing. After learning the organization did not have the funds to purchase an analyzer, he contacted HNL Lab Medicine’s point-of-care testing team.
“There are a number of people with dialysis, and they need sodium and potassium testing,” Rick said. “Having access to that information can be very important when caring for patients.”
The equipment can also be valuable when caring for patients with conditions that may require frequent assessments. For example, a patient living in a village with a condition such as COPD may not be able to travel to the clinic as often as their condition would normally be warranted.
This donation is one small part of a much larger mission that has relied on partnerships, volunteers, and donated resources since its beginning. Serving at the Crossroads describes its approach as “Aid. Inform. Empower.” The organization provides resources while helping empower local healthcare professionals to continue caring for their communities.
“People are so appreciative when you provide something they don’t have,” Rick said.
For HNL Lab Medicine, supporting Manos Amigas is an opportunity to contribute equipment and laboratory expertise to a healthcare team doing meaningful work in its community. By bringing vital testing resources closer to patients, these laboratory analyzers may help healthcare professionals make more informed care decisions both at the clinic and in the surrounding villages.
HNL Lab Medicine is proud to support the Manos Amigas Clinic and the healthcare professionals working to make quality care more accessible to the people they serve.
Learn more about the organization here: Serving at the Crossroads
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About HNL Lab Medicine
Operating for over 28 years, HNL Lab Medicine is a leading multi-regional, full-service medical laboratory providing testing and related services to physician offices, hospitals, long-term care facilities, employers, and industrial accounts throughout Pennsylvania. HNL Lab Medicine has more than 50 patient service centers in Pennsylvania and has 33 acute care laboratories within our partners’ hospital sites. The HNL Lab Medicine team consists of over 2,200 employees, including over 109 industry-leading pathologists and scientific directors. Our multidisciplinary team of experts is focused on providing expert medical and technical diagnostic guidance so that patients may get diagnosed and treated faster. Learn more at HNL.com and follow us on Facebook, TikTok, Vimeo and LinkedIn.
Angelina Schianodicola
HNL Lab Medicine
+1 484-425-5122
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