The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, in collaboration with Adventist Health International,* has decided to keep Cooper Adventist Hospital open in Liberia in spite of the deadly Ebola virus outbreak.
Many public hospitals in the West African nation and adjacent areas have shut down or are refusing to take on new patients, but the staff and faculty at Cooper made the decision to remain open for treatment of other illnesses. They are continuing to screen patients prior to entering the hospital grounds in order to remain free of the Ebola virus as near as possible so that they will be a source of help and safety to their patients and staff.
Due to the Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, both the General Conference and Adventist Health International were faced with a serious decision: should Cooper be closed in hopes of stopping the EVD spread and the physicians sent home for their own personal safety, or should the hospital remain operational?
Gillian Seton, MD, is a 2008 graduate from Loma Linda University School of Medicine and has been serving at Cooper as a deferred mission appointee since February 2014. Working as a general surgeon at the hospital, she believes the need for medical treatment outweighs the dangers involved in staying.
“The most dangerous place to be right now is in a hospital, but what are you to do when you have a patient with an OB emergency? Appendicitis? Severe Malaria with almost un-survivable anemia?” Seton asks.
The discussion surrounding the closing of the hospital focused on the threat of continuing the spread of Ebola throughout the surrounding countries and the ever-growing need for medical treatment of other illnesses.
Seton said the reason the hospital has not been closed is because they’ve seen how desperate people are to get help after they have already been turned away from four of five hospitals due to staff-enforced closures.
According to Richard H. Hart, MD, DrPH, president of Adventist Health International, Cooper hospital is to remain open based on four criteria:
1) Adventist Health International will financially subsidize hospital operations during this crisis.
2) Only staff who voluntarily decide to remain on duty should work.
3) Adventist Health International will keep adequate supplies coming into the country.
4) Additional professional help will be sent to Liberia as necessary.
Seton said that it was this willingness from Adventist Health International to provide aid to the hospital that led to the staff’s decision. The support and encouragement from the General Conference and Adventist Health International created a belief in their ability to stay open and help others.
Cooper is not the only Adventist Health International hospital in West Africa to be affected by this outbreak. Waterloo Adventist Hospital in Sierra Leone is also facing the Ebola crisis.
With the virus continuing to spread throughout West Africa, Cooper and Waterloo are in need of outside help. The hospitals are limited in supplies and equipment and in need of additional medical staff. But they are also in need of financial donations. To help during this crisis, readers are invited to visit www.ahiglobal.org for up-to-date news, and click donate to choose Cooper or Waterloo as their site of choice.
*About Adventist Health International
Adventist Health International (AHI) is a multinational nonprofit corporation with headquarters in Loma Linda, California. AHI has been established to provide coordination, consultation, management, and technical assistance to hospitals and health care services operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, primarily in developing countries. AHI is not a funding agency and depends on various organizations, foundations, governments and individuals to provide financial assistance when needed.