African Mission Healthcare Gerson L’Chaim Prize Laureate – 2021
Kapsowar Hospital, Kenya
Dr. Bill Rhodes, a general and reconstructive surgeon, came to medicine later in life. Already in his early forties when his medical training ended, Bill, along with wife Laura and four kids, headed to Kapsowar Hospital in rural western Kenya. This was to be their own “little corner of Africa” where they hoped to do some good in the name of Jesus.
More than two decades later, Dr. Rhodes has helped build Kapsowar Hospital into a regional surgical center. His son, also a surgeon, has joined the work. They growing staff has allowed Bill to travel all over Africa caring for patients with advanced tumors, burns, and other conditions requiring the skills of a well-trained plastic surgeon.
During his travels, Bill’s heart was kindled for those living in “surgical deserts,” vast regions with little to no access to modern surgical care. He developed a vision to train African surgical teams for such places, and that dream won the African Mission Healthcare Gerson L’Chaim Prize for Outstanding Christian Medical Missionary Service.
Treating Patients Today
African Mission Healthcare’s Surgical Access for Everyone (SAFE) program sponsors free operations at Kapsowar Hospital. Dr. Rhodes’ annual trips to Chad and the Nuba Mountains are also supported by African Mission Healthcare.
Training Doctors for Tomorrow
African Mission Healthcare is working with Dr. Rhodes to plan advanced surgical training for nurses and doctors.
Transforming Hospitals for Tomorrow
African Mission Healthcare has provided modern surgical equipment and back-up power for Kapsowar’s operating theaters. A high-dependency unit provides treatment just below the level of intensive care and is necessary to perform more complex operations. African Mission Healthcare is building a high-dependency unit at Kapsowar.
What started as a plan to help “in a little corner of Africa” has expanded to touch a continent.