Investing in children's health - here and in Africa
Our future facility, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, is named in honor of Ann Lurie and her late husband. Her $100 million philanthropic investment through the Heroes for Life campaign provided pivotal momentum for the new facility.
During the last decade, Ms. Lurie, once a pediatric nurse at Children’s Memorial, has been personally and passionately involved in bringing modern health care to remote areas of Africa...
What inspired you to develop health clinics in Kenya? What were the challenges?
In the late 1990s, while on safari in a remote rural region of southeastern Kenya, I was asked to build a nursery school for the Maasai. I went back to Chicago and researched the Head Start program. Then I returned to the area, and with the help of my daughter Abbie, got started. I am a pediatric nurse by training, and on the first day of school, sitting in the room with 44 little Maasai kids, I looked around and said to myself, “Most of these kids are sick!” I started inquiring about the healthcare options for the Maasai in this area and quickly learned they were practically nonexistent. I realized these people needed help. It was an “aha” moment where I thought, “If not me, then who?”
Virtually everyone tried to dissuade me from what I knew I needed to do — bring Western
medicine to the area while carefully respecting the culture of the indigenous people. I didn’t have a template, so I just started at the beginning. I bought a 28-foot Airstream trailer in the U.S., had it converted to a mobile medical clinic and shipped to Mombasa. From there, it was loaded on the back of a truck and driven across Kenya on dirt roads to the Mbrikani Group Ranch. I befriended a pediatrician in Nairobi who helped find three young physicians for me to interview. One was Dr. Murithi, who is still with us as our Chief Physician. I also hired a nurse from the community, a laboratory technologist and a driver — all Kenyan, and in the spring of 2002, we began traversing the 300,000 acre ranch; offering desperately-needed basic medical services to the residents; semi-nomadic pasturalists with lifestyles so fragile that the whole family often collapses in the face of a serious illness. As word spread, we gradually gained the trust of the people, and awareness grew exponentially.
The whole project was fraught with challenges. The area was completely and utterly bereft of resources or infrastructure, so from the beginning, we encountered challenges daily. For the most part, there weren’t and still aren’t roads, running water, electricity or sanitary waste disposal. When absolutely necessary, which was always the case, we built our own.
How has the project transpired?
We have come a remarkably long way since that initial “aha” moment. Today, in addition to a brand new mobile medical trailer, AID Village Clinics has evolved into a 24-building fixed based compound including exam rooms, laboratory, an in-patient unit for seriously ill patients, pharmacy, TB diagnostic and VCT counseling center, staff and visitor quarters and cafeteria, storage facilities and a vehicle and motorbike garage.
We employ 128 Kenyan medical and nonmedical staff members. Our vibrant Community Outreach Program is comprised of 16 trained Community Health Workers who travel by motorcycle for education and prevention outreach activities and to see patients who are too
ill or too remote to walk to the Clinic. We serve a population of over 90,000 from an 80-mile catchment area and currently see over 2,800 patients per month. I often say we’re in the salvage business. We save people who wouldn’t have a chance otherwise. Our staff treats infectious diseases including malaria, amebiosiasis, eye diseases, neonatal sepsis, skin and upper respiratory infections, pneumonia, TB, brucellosis, HIV/AIDS, STDs as well as injuries from accidents and animal attacks and other acute and chronic conditions. We currently have 2,500 HIV/AIDS patients on antiretroviral therapy. We are the only facility in the area that supplies the post-bite rabies prophylaxis, and on almost any day, we have at least one adult or child receiving the injections as the result of an encounter with a rabid animal. We have a complete electronic medical records system and state-of-the art ultrasound and x-ray equipment to better diagnose and treat our patients. All of our equipment is powered by solar power with a back-up generator. When necessary, we provide transport to the Clinic for non-ambulatory emergency cases and paid referral and treatment to specialists in Nairobi. All our services are free of charge.
Key to the success of this initiative is our collaboration between the Clinic staff and experienced medical and public health professionals from the U.S. In the past year alone, noted medical consultants from Children’s Memorial, Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins, University of Michigan and the University of Illinois have visited the Clinic to consult with our medical staff. Conversely, we have brought our physicians and technologists to the U.S. for training at some of the aforementioned institutions.
Is there a pediatric component to AID Village Clinics? Does Children’s Memorial play a role?
A portion of the existing inpatient unit is devoted to pediatric care, and Dr. Ram Yogev from
Children’s Memorial is our Chief Consultant for Pediatrics. He has made several visits to the Clinic, and most importantly, regularly consults electronically with Clinic staff with referrals to other specialists at Children’s when needed. We have recently received funding from a private donor to begin constructing a Maternity Center that will erase the existing gap in high risk delivery and after-care for both mother and newborn.
In addition, I am very proud of the results of our Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission program. To participate in this program, mothers infected with HIV/AIDS must attend our pre-natal clinic and are treated aggressively with ARV’s to lower their viral load. They must agree not to breast feed their infants. Instead, we distribute Similac to the mothers, and under the direction of a trained Community Health Worker, they are trained to mix the formula with water that they purify with PUR, a product that removes all impurities from the local water supply. Approximately 250 moms have participated in this program, and we have been 100% successful in keeping their babies from becoming infected! It is an extremely labor-intensive initiative but worth the effort.
Can you share other remarkable or rewarding moments in the Clinic’s history?
Life in the clinic is life in the bush, so there are numerous stories and anecdotes, both
wrenching and compelling, and often, sensational. Instead, I’d like to share the results of two very different initiatives where the statistical outcomes prove we have made a patent difference in the lives of the people we serve.
Keep in mind that prior to AID Village Clinics, it was virtually impossible for these people to not only get healthcare, but access to information or education regarding preventative measures was non existent as well. We have changed that. For instance, in 2005, 550 patients presented at the Clinic with malaria. In an effort to combat the high incidence of this widespread disease, we purchased and distributed 10,000 insecticide treated nets at a cost of $2.50 per net. In 2006, we saw 350 patients with malaria, and in 2007, I am proud to say, only 31 patients presented at the Clinic with malaria.
Opportunities for higher education especially in health-related professions also didn’t exist. It is particularly significant and rewarding to me that as a result of the influence of AID Village Clinics along with scholarships I have personally provided, two young Maasai women from the Group Ranch were motivated and empowered to seek a career in medicine. They are the first women from the area to enter medical school!
Are you still involved in the day-to- day operation of the Clinic?
I am involved with the clinic daily whether I am in the U.S. or in Kenya. I spend a significant amount of time each quarter at the Clinic overseeing operations; staff hiring and evaluations; procurement and delivery of supplies and equipment; construction and renovation projects; and staff continuing education and special training. And, from time to time, I also scrub floors and count meds or inventory supplies. I almost always get involved personally in my philanthropy. I want to see the change that the gifts engender, and I don’t think you do that if you’re not participatory.
You were recently awarded the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Award for Humanitarian Contributions to the Health of Humankind. What drives your passion?
When I was young, my mother encouraged me to “do a good deed daily.” Following her advice felt good then, and, now, many years later, it still feels good. I think of philanthropy as my selfish pleasure. What could be more rewarding than having the opportunity to give hope where none formerly existed, to feed the hungry, to help provide the tools to train doctors and scientists, and ultimately save lives?
I feel privileged to be in a position to use my resources in ways that will improve the lives of others. My work for children in Africa and around the world is not only necessary but an investment in the future of children. The process is similar to making any investment; the anticipated returns are just different. Specific to my gift for the new Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago in Streeterville, it’s simple: This needs to be done. I can help it get done. Other Chicagoans can and should help as well.
This article first appeared in the Fall 2009 issue of Heroes magazine. For a dose of inspiration sent right to your inbox, sign up to receive our Heroes Update. Or read important facts about us.