Long Live The Sar

A quick note about the hospital and its response to the outbreak: The Debre Berhan Referral Hospital is a compound of ~30 single-story buildings with nearly 115 beds. There are wards for medicine, pediatrics, surgery, and OB-GYN as well as an emergency department, an outpatient clinic, and an ophthalmology department. There are close to 10 senior physicians on staff and more GPs (General Practitioner – graduated 6 years of university/medical school but no further training) overseeing patient care. Dr. Aelaf and the GPs live on the hospital grounds in 15'x15' single rooms. We visit the hospital's shai bet (tea house) at least 3 times every day. As for the outbreak: Only a handful of people seemed to care about the fact that we were in the midst of dealing with an epidemic or that the patients were at serious risk of death if not managed correctly. The Chief Clinical Officer, a caring, well-intentioned physician, works hard to improve the hospital and often considers ...

I haven’t written in a few days because there has simply been too much going on this week in Debre Berhan. I arrived on Monday afternoon and met my host, Dr. Aelaf Worku. A former Mt. Sinai student and resident, Aelaf has been working in Debre Berhan since February on a joint project with Dr. Joseph Mascii, head of ID at Elmhurst Hospital in NYC. Although initially a slightly intimidating figure, it became quickly apparent that he is a driven, passionate, and thoughtful person who is burning it at both ends here to affect some of the change he knows is possible. To be sure, there is no shortage of room for improvement. Likewise, there is no shortage of things that I could write about my experience here. However, the true excitement began yesterday (Thursday) around 10 AM… Wednesday night, two prisoners from the town prison had been brought to the hospital for uncontrollable, watery diarrhea. Dr. Aelaf was able to stabilize his patient, giving him 8 bags of fluid in or...

One of the most exciting things about this summer is reconnecting with patients that I met either three or four years ago. Some of the patients have undergone successful surgeries in the meantime, regaining use of their hands, backs, and jaws. However, more of the patients I have seen are those who are still suffering from their various maladies that I was first introduced to years ago. On Saturday, a patient came to Rick's clinic who I first met in 2008, briefly described in this post. "Blayne", as we'll call her, was a beautiful 17 year old girl at that time who suffered from a debilitating neuromuscular disorder. She was confined to a wheelchair, had constant tremors and tics in both her hands, arms, and head, and was dutifully cared for by her loving father. I frequently think of Blayne and her father, the pleading in his eyes as he waited during Rick's neurologic exam, the tenderness with which he lifted her in and out of her wheelchair, and the obvious devot...