Estancia Fraternidad is a place for families to stay when family members are in the general hospital nearby.  Patients cannot be admitted unless there is a family member who can help in their care.  The hospital serves 30 districts and 570 municipalities in the State of Oaxaca.  It also serves patients from neighboring states because the hospital has the only cobalt treatment facility in southeastern Mexico.

Estancia Fraternidad was founded in 1991 by Sr. Roberto Cruz Pasten and Sr. Bivaldo Ramos Martínez, longtime friends, with funds won in the National Lottery.  Operating expenses have come from several sources:  residents pay 10 pesos daily for three meals and lodging; the State of Oaxaca, DIF, and the Archdiocese of Oaxaca provide annual grants; and individual donors contribute money and clothing.  It costs Estancia 49 pesos a day to provide lodging and meals for each resident.  A major source of funding has come from the President of Estancia, Sr. Bivaldo Ramos Martínez, who has won the national lottery three times.  He says that he has an agreement with the Lord: "Take care of my family and I will take care of your people."  

Estancia can house up to 120 persons in four dormitories, two for women and two for men.  There is also a 12 bed hospice and a 14 bed dorm for patients needing long term care.

Estancia provides numerous other, invaluable services for its residents:

• Medicines which are donated and assistance to purchase prescriptions when the budget allows.

• Used clothing

• Two ambulances for transportation of patients

• Assistance with funeral services, including providing a coffin, help with necessary documents, and transportation to the village for the deceased and family members in an ambulance.

• Services of a psychologist who is a volunteer and who is writing her thesis on Estancia

• Quarters for the office of Casa de la Amistad, an organization which provides complete treatment and medicines for children with cancer.