Karanda Mission Hospital

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Posted by Dr. Paul Thistle on Jul 30, 2018

Dr. Ruth Mathieson was very pleased to introduce Dr. Paul Thistle (pictured second from left with Ken Dickson, Dr. Ruth Mathieson and President Andrew Bandler) to the Rotary Club of Belleville.  Dr. Thistle received his medical degree and fellowship in obstetrics and gynaecology from the University of Toronto.  He is an honourary lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe and Associate Professor at the University of Toronto.  In 2005 Dr. Thistle received an Honourary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Windsor, a Paul Harris Fellowship from Rotary International and an inaugural Teasedale Humanitarian Award from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.  For the past 24 years, Paul has worked as a medical missionary in Zimbabwe, first as Chief Medical Officer at the Salvation Army Howard Hospital from 1995 - 2012 and most recently at Karanda Hospital from 2012.  Paul is married to Pedrinah, a Zimbabwean born nurse educator and midwife.  They have three sons.  Dr. Thistle has done an amazing work on a shoestring budget, especially in the field of HIV/AIDS and continues to do so.  Over the years, our Club has tried to help him by sending medications, hospital equipment and medical supplies as well as money to help with day to day living expenses. 

Dr. Paul Thistle was very pleased to be here to share some of the work currently being done at Karanda Mission Hospital.  It's a very rough road to get to the hospital and people have to cross a swollen river to get there.  Crocodiles live in the river and people come from hundreds of miles away, taking days to get there.

Karanda Mission Hospital was established in 1961 to meet the needs of mission stations in the Zambezi River valley which were established as churches and then, as the abundant health care challenges were seen, small dispensaries/clinics were developed along with churches and finally schools. To help the clinics, the hospital was built. Karanda is in a remote area of Northern Zimbabwe nearest to Mount Darwin. Its location is approximately 124 miles from Harare, the Capital of Zimbabwe.

The mission complex has a 3 year nurse training school for around 55 students, a 1 year midwifery program, and a primary school offering grades 1-7 for children of the hospital staff. The hospital also offers a Home Based care program that ministers to the needs of widows, orphans and those with HIV. It works with the Evangelical church, a non-denominational church, very similar in doctrine to the Evangelical Free church in the United States.  Karanda has 5 chaplains who help to meet the spiritual needs of the patients through daily ward devotions, evangelization, and counseling for grief when a patient dies or for end of life issues for those with terminal diseases. Karanda takes the evangelistic mission very seriously.

The hospital is licensed for 150 beds and on an average work day performs between 15-30 surgeries and sees 200-300 outpatients. The facility is known for the large number of surgical cases it handles as well as treating HIV/AIDS, TB, obstetrics, and hydrocephalus.  Karanda performs over 4,000 surgical cases annually and has two full time surgeons (a General surgeon and an OBGYN), and a little help from some visitors. In addition to the two surgeons, Karanda also has a Physician’s assistant and a General practitioner . During parts of the year Karanda also has 2 interns from the University of Zimbabwe and medical volunteers from overseas. The patient population is drawn from the entire country as people seek affordable, reliable, compassionate healthcare.  Some facts about the hospital:

  • 130 Bed Hospital
  • 55 Nursing Students
  • 3,500-4,000 surgeries annually (major and minor)
  • 2,000 deliveries annually
  • 200-300 outpatients daily
The hospital receives funding from the Ministry of Health -- $20,000 for 75,000 patients for the entire year so as Dr. Ruth has already said, the hospital is operated on a shoestring budget as well as through the generosity of the Rotary Clubs and other donors who have supported the hospital and his family for many years.  Their mission statement is to demonstrate compassionate medical work, but there is a definite gap in funding and what is really required.  The ministry to the people is imperfect.  Vehicles get mired in the mud.  The hospital runs out of essentials.  The pharmacy shelves are bare.  There is no regular ambulance service.  There are 1.5 million orphans.  Health and hunger are heavy.  There is persistent poverty.  The medical staff suffer from real fatigue.  But the war is ongoing or as Dr. Paul says they return to the bunker to rumble in the jungle.  He does not have all the answers after 23 years except to simply be present in the lives of the people.  Being is as important as doing.  They try to embrace what they can to express the love of God and do the best they can, one patient/person at a time.  Perseverance does pay.......they are winning the war on HIV/AIDS.
 
Dr. Thistle still sees some of the more traditional diseases, such as famine.  If the rains are late, the harvest is poor, water is scarce.  Water is the life of any community and without it, life is very fragile and difficult.  Schools don't have running water.  People carry wood and do their washing in rivers.  It is difficult to keep teenagers in school although there are projects to keep them in school.  Rotary has provided seed money to construct a classroom that would house 500 children.  There is no furniture or chalk board, but it does provide children with a future.  Clean water.  Education.  But Dr. Thistle thinks we can do better and he shared his story about the Siamese twins that he delivered at Howard Hospital in 2005.  The twins are now 13 years old, herding cattle and going to school.  One success story!.
 
Dr. Thistle thanked everyone for listening.  It was a privilege to share.  Rotarian and Past President Ken Dickson thanked Dr. Thistle for sharing inside information on the work he does and the lives he saves with incredible fortitude and faith.