Noyes Memorial Hospital in Dansville has formed an informal “Sister Hospital partnership with the new Health Ministry (MINSA) Hospital in El Sauce, Nicaragua.

According to Noyes President and CEO James Wissler, both hospitals will strive to share information and to support each other in many ways.

Through this collaborative relationship, both hospitals can better serve their respective rural populations. Also,

Wissler believes that this type of partnership will increase international understanding and good will. Possible future collaborations may include staff visitation programs, exchange of protocols and best practices, and sharing of resources.

This informal partnership arrangement was the culmination of a process that began on Oct. 2, when the Mayor of El Sauce, Rosa Amelia Valle Vargas, visited Noyes Memorial Hospital and met with Wissler.

Both the mayor and Wissler recognized the similarities between the rural nature of their respective regions, and the excellent primary level hospital care that each health facility provides to its patients.

Dansville General Hospital incorporated in 1920 and the name changed to Nicholas H. Noyes Hospital in 1975. The present health facility in El Sauce was founded in 1979. The new hospital in El Sauce is under construction and is expected to open in June 2010.

El Sauce, Nicaragua has an unofficial Ciudad Hermana (Sister City) relationship with the city of Rochester.

The Ciudad Hermana Task Force in the Rochester area was founded in 1987. This organization works to build bridges between people and groups in the greater Rochester area and their counterparts in El Sauce.

Through the efforts of the Task Force, the University of Rochester School of Medicine now sends medical students to work alongside Nicaraguan doctors in El Sauce, and SUNY Geneseo has developed several strong links with the Nicaraguan city.

The informal partnership between Nicholas H. Noyes Memorial Hospital and the new MINSA hospital in El Sauce is the most recent connection between the greater Rochester area and the city of El Sauce.