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Our Mission
Remote Ophthalmic, Surgical, and Emergency (ROSE) is a 501(c)(3) dedicated to supporting the delivery of sustainable, comprehensive eye care and emergency medical support in underserved remote coastal communities. Our commitment is rooted in the belief that everyone, regardless of location, deserves access to quality care.
Vision
To be a pioneering force in transforming the health landscape of the most remote communities through innovative, sustainable, and accessible solutions to access and delivery of care.
We strive to bring care closer to where individuals live. We are committed to pioneering innovative solutions with compassion, integrity, and a deep sense of social responsibility.
By mobilizing resources, fostering partnerships, and engaging communities, we strive to build resilient infrastructures that empower individuals and uplift entire communities for generations to come.
Core Values
Compassion: Our service is centered on respect and profound empathy for those we serve. We are all part of a greater fabric of humanity.
Empowerment: Capacity building is our core value. We seek to impart lasting change through education, skills transfer, and empowerment.
Innovation: We embrace creativity and leading-edge solutions to overcome barriers in health care delivery in geographically isolated regions.
Sustainability: Sustainability means - to maintain. Our programs and initiatives are designed to endure over time by supporting and empowering local healthcare workforces, ensuring lasting impact. We also strive to maintain our ecosystems the way we found them, by minimizing our environmental footprint.
Integrity: Transparency and ethical practices guide all our decisions and interactions. We see ourselves and the communities we work with as one large global community, made up of smaller but equally important parts.
Founders
Sila Bal, MD, MPH is a cataract, cornea, and refractive surgeon dedicated to improving eye health in diverse communities, both locally and globally. Dr. Bal received her medical degree and Master’s in Public Health from the University of Pennsylvania where she was awarded the United States Public Health Service Excellence in Public Health Award for her work on disparities in eye health. She then went on to complete her ophthalmology residency and cornea fellowship at Harvard Ophthalmology and her global ophthalmology fellowship with the Moran Eye Center.
Dr. Bal first began working in global health in 2010 and has worked in regions across Central America, South America, Africa, and Asia. She brings her passion and background in global health to ROSE Initiatives.
Lorenzo Albala, MD, MS is a biomedical engineer turned board-certified emergency medicine physician. He is currently based in Honolulu with Hawai’i Pacific Health. He is affiliated Faculty of Wilderness Medicine with the Massachusetts General Hospital SPEAR Division. Dr. Albala completed his residency training at the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency and Wilderness Medicine Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.
He is the founder and president of ROSE Initiatives, through which he leverages wilderness and emergency medicine training to build capacity and strengthen systems and infrastructure in remote and under-resourced places. Dr. Albala loves to explore the world through food, and he spends most of his free time in the water with his wife, Dr. Sila Bal.