PALMHURST-- Valley Medical Professionals are responding to the need for medical assistance in Puerto Rico.

Dr. Juan Padilla, a valley neurosurgeon is a Puerto Rican native. He, along with a team of other medical professionals traveled to Haiti in 2010 to help earthquake victims.

"We saw 6,000 patients and we operated on 400," says Dr. Padilla.

The idea of a dedicated team to help victims of natural disasters came about, establishing Heal International Medical Missions. The same team that helped in Haiti, is now gearing up to head to Puerto Rico. They plan to rotate physicians, nurses and operating room techs to travel to Puerto Rico over the course of five weeks. The team consulted with Puerto Rico's Department of Health and determined the most help needed was in the Southwest corner of the island, called Yauco.

Dr. Padilla and the rest of the HIMM members will travel at the end of the month.