As with most of the New Horizons exercises, medical units are an integral part of the exercise task force to conduct field medical, dental, and veterinary training with host-nations' medical personnel in rural communities as well as provide any needed medical support to the task force.  

During the first phase of the exercise (February 28 to March 9) about 13,175 residents of Los Pozos, Macaracas, and Los Santos districts received with basic medical, dental and optomitry care and screening, plus veterinary care to some 2,000 domestic animals.  During April 11-20, dental care was extended to about 5,800 residents of Macaracas district and veterinary care extended to 3,160 animals. April 25-27 medical and dental care was extended to about 2,900 residents at La Mesa de Macaracas while veterinary care was provided to  animals. [El Panamá América, May 1 and 3, 2005]  As seen during most of these exercises, many patients had walked for miles from remote areas for the medical-dental care, and many of them saw a doctor or dentist for the first time.  

Similar New Horizons exercises are underway in 2005 in El Salvador and Nicaragua and in the Caribbean islands of Haiti, Antigua, and Dominica.

See related article on this exercise by Eric Jackson, The Panama News (April 17 - May 7, 2005), at  http://www.thepanamanews.com/pn/v_11/issue_08/news_02.html.

The previous New Horizons exercise in Panama was conducted February 24 to May 15, 2003 in Chiriqui Province where Army National Guard and Reserve personnel (principally from Ohio and New Jersey Army National Guard units) with Panamanian counterparts constructed three schools (at Quebrada Guabo, Las Lajas, and Quebrada Hacha) and three clinics (at Quebrada Hacha, Hato Juli, and Cerro Iglesia) and conducted medical training exercises providing medical and dental care to residents in the areas of Boca del Soloy, Cerro Iglesia, Hato Pilan and Quebrada Guabo.  The total cost of that exercise was about $14 million.