ALLIANCE NEWS
CHANGING LIVES in Uganda
Debi McDonald & Bobbi Martin
The GLMS Alliance exists to promote support among physician families and better the health and wellness of
our community through supporting local charities. Together we live a life unique to the challenges and rewards
of being a physician family. If you are a physician or the spouse/child/parent of a physician, please JOIN US! For
more information, visit the Alliance link on the GLMS.org website.
Editor’s Note: This is an extended account of the mission trip mentioned
in the April edition of Louisville Medicine.
M
arch 2019, Jinja, Uganda: In an environment of ex-
tremely scarce resources, nurses administer potent
medications to treat meningitis, hang blood for pa-
tients with malaria, treat diarrhea and malnutrition,
and deliver babies all in a day’s work.
As we visited Whisper Children’s Hospital, we learned quickly
they had been waiting for us. We all agreed that we have never been
met with such an outpouring of gratitude for any possible assistance
in all of our lives. The eyes of desperate parents and suffering children
met ours in each room we entered.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, our journey began with a
little boy named Patrick who had been suffering from an undiag-
nosed heart condition in his hometown of Jinja. Whisper Children’s
Hospital was not able to provide the necessary medical treatment.
The Kentucky chapter of the national nonprofit Healing the Chil-
dren worked with Norton Children’s Hospital to have Patrick flown
to Louisville for treatment. Unfortunately, the condition had taken
its toll on Patrick’s small body, and he died before surgery could
be performed.
Debi McDonald, of Healing the Children Kentucky and the
GLMS Alliance, flew Patrick’s body home to Jinja only to discover
his sister also had a heart defect but was healthy enough to endure
surgery. McDonald brought back Gift, Patrick’s sister, and her mom.
Also invited were the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Medical
Officer of Whisper Children’s Hospital to begin what would be a
comprehensive plan to assist this hospital and bring healing to these
families in Uganda.
A meeting in Louisville was with Kathy Mershon, Galen Center
for Professional Development (GCPD) Board chairperson. As the
needs of the hospital were discussed, without hesitation they said
education was the most important. Nurse Development Resourc-
es® (NDR) educational programs were delivered to the nurses and
doctors at Whisper’s. Within two months, all had completed the
NDR pediatric outcome driven modules. We were on our way to
Uganda to learn about their work, collaborate and share knowledge
about pediatric care across the globe.
Another need of Whisper Children’s Hospital was medical sup-
plies and equipment. Working with Supplies Over Seas, GLMS
Alliance member Rebecca Dixon sponsored a full 40’ shipping
container to send medical supplies and equipment to Whisper’s
Children’s Hospital. Members of the GLMS Alliance’s mission team
and GCPD plan to make another medical mission trip to Jinja once
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the container arrives.
During our trip, GLMS Alliance member and intern Rebecca
McDonald filed medical USA Visa applications for Norton Children’s
Hospital’s next two international charity surgeries, and accompa-
nied Whisper’s Outreach team into the remote villages to inspect
and treat for Jiggers, a Chigoe flea parasite. She also played with
children in the hospital’s primary school room and helped them
practice English speaking, reading and writing.
Every day was packed with experiences from primary school
visits, government hospital visits, shadowing at the hospital, com-
munity outreach, plus lively evening discussions over dinner with
Whisper’s hospital staff, doctors and nurses. But no matter where
we went or what we saw, the recurring theme was more education,
so they might help their own.
These bright smiling children with eager faces, who through
Whisper’s receive uniforms, paper materials and an education, wel-
comed us with song and a gratitude for learning that astounded us.
Our hospital shadowing shifts were enlightening. The nurses
and doctors identified a most pressing need to improve their resus-
citation efforts. They voiced stress and a lack of confidence during
codes, and the team felt they needed more training and practice.
We found their resuscitation box in need of overhaul, so, we
worked to create an organized resuscitation box that had stan-
dardized equipment and supplies. The team created a checklist of
necessary items, responsibilities and accountability to ensure the box
is always ready. The maternity ward created two new resuscitation
boxes, one for the laboring mother and another for the newborn.
We wrapped up our week with a collaborative meeting with hos-
pital administration to map out our future plans. We topped off the
evening with a recognition ceremony, presenting Galen certificates
of completion to the nurses who had worked so diligently on the
training modules and a pizza party for all!
We invite you to be part of the team. The next trip is scheduled
for late June, and we hope to have many others to follow. For more
information, email [email protected].
Together, we can improve the health of children globally through
education and shared expertise. People are people everywhere.
They love their children and want them to thrive, and so do we.
Debi McDonald is the GLMS Alliance President and Healing the Children
Kentucky Executive Director.
Bobbi Martin is the Executive Director of Galen Center for Professional
Development.