Barretos Cancer Hospital is known as the hospital of love. And when you walk to halls of the hospital it’s undeniable. Love fills every corner of the hospital from the complimentary coffee and snacks for patients and their families to cheery “oi!” heard when passing by any employee of the hospital. When you’re in the hospital it’s nearly impossible to not get sucked into this environment that tries to give so much love to these families that are facing the greatest challenges. However, what is even more impossible to imagine is the sheer amount of love the city of Barretos has for the hospital. The hospital has become such an integral part of this community, with nearly every family and business involved in some way. If you meet someone in this city, you can almost bet they work at the hospital as well. It seems every family has at least one person who works here, if not the entire family.
Additionally, every business is extremely involved in supporting the hospital. Almost every store and restaurant has a little donation jar for the hospital-which is key since the hospital relies on a lot of donations. These jars have raised millions for the hospital and have subsequently helped out so many families in need. With that being said, it’s not difficult to see why this town rallies around this hospital. Yes, many people rely on the hospital for jobs, however this hospital also just does so much good.
Donation jar at Pablo’s and my favorite cafe to visit, La Maison.
Hospital de Cancer de Barretos is the only cancer hospital in the entire country of Brazil that provides high level of care for cancer patients….at extremely low cost or even free. So while there is another wonderful cancer hospital just four hours away in Sao Paulo, patients must pay for care. This means that the sheer volume of patients Hospital de Cancer de Barretos (as well as many of the branches in different cities) sees is enormous. Waiting rooms 3-5x the size of American hospital waiting rooms aren’t uncommon. Patients and their families travel from all over Brazil, from cities an hour away as well as from the edge of the Amazon. Yet, despite the large numbers of patients and the fact that most of them aren’t paying for cancer treatments, Barretos Cancer Hospital takes care of their patients and their families. Clowns can be seen roaming waiting rooms, waiting to put a smile on even the most wary faces. Free coffee, tea, and butter bread (which is favorite here for breakfast) is located just around every corner. Free lunch and dinner are provided to all of the families waiting for their loved ones. And even in the works is Barretos own Ronald McDonald house. This house is extremely special because it is designed for bigger families than many of the Ronald McDonald houses located in the United States. This was done purposely by the administration of HCB (Hospital de Cancer de Barretos) to make sure to keep families together. When families travel for days to get here, it becomes 10x harder to break families up, so HCB has sought to remedy this with the larger family housing.
Free coffee, tea, and butter bread for waiting patients and their families
With dedication to the patients like this, it is not hard to fathom why love seeps out of the hallways and infects the entire town. Patients are often so unbelievably grateful they have been known to give doctors presents. One doctor at HCB has received a full lamb’s worth of meat, already butchered and ready for a churrasco (a Brazilian barbque)…and this isn’t the first time he has received one. The love between patients, hospital and community are infectious and omnipresent.
Besides the hospital, the next biggest thing Barretos is known for is the rodeo or rodeio in Portuguese. Like our very own rodeo, it consists of a cook off, actual rodeo sports and music. And this year, the famous Garth Brooks is performing. While the Rodeio stage is no stranger to big name acts, never has a non-Brazilian graced the stage. Let alone a big name American country artist. The kicker? The proceeds from his concert go to HCB. That’s right, the relationship between the community, hospital and patients is everything.
Above is a picture of the MASSIVE cowboy statue at the Parque do Peão (where the Rodeo takes place), and another one with some of my co-workers and I for scale. Who says everything is bigger in Texas?
I’ve done my best to try to describe the love, passion and compassion that Pablo and I have gotten a chance to be a part of over the last month. It’s absolutely infectious and I know we both wouldn’t change this opportunity for a thing in the world. The people we have met, the patients we have seen, and the hospitality we have felt. If even for a short time, I am so unbelievably grateful to be a part of such an amazing institution.