CANADIAN medical doctor Paul Thistle has carved himself a niche in the medical fraternity, especially at mission hospitals where he has blended well with the rural folk wherever he is posted.
When he left the Salvation Army-run Howard Mission Hospital in a huff last year, villagers protested violently against his forced departure.
One year down the line, Thistle has found himself a new home at Karanda Mission Hospital in Mt Darwin where in no time, he has drawn patients from all corners of the country for the “magic touch” that is synonymous with him. The hospital falls under the Evangelical Church of Africa.
NewsDay (ND) reporter Moses Matenga yesterday spoke to Thistle (PT) on what he thinks about the Chiweshe community and why people were now flocking to Karanda for medical care and the number of patients the hospital attends to on a daily basis at his new workstation.
ND: You made news headlines when you clashed with the Salvation Army leadership at Howard Mission Hospital in Chiweshe last year. You have now settled here, how has been your stay so far?
PT: It has been a good experience, I have been received very well and we, as a team, are very busy these days. It has been a good transition from the days at Howard Mission (in Chiweshe).
ND: Judging from what we have at Karanda Hospital, people seem to be flocking for medical attention here some from far-away places, what do you attribute that to?
PT: Most of the people are non-locals. Most of them come from Bulawayo, Harare, Rusape, Mutare and all over the country. For me, I feel that we have a big task ahead of us and we continue to pray for guidance in the discharge of our duties here.
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They come for consultations, surgeries and other various reasons. Others tell us they can’t afford what they pay in other institutions and have no access for various reasons, I can’t speak of others, but those are the main reasons they tell us why they come to Karanda Hospital.
ND: How many people do you attend to a day and of that number, how many are locals and non-locals?
PT: A day we attend to between 200-300 patients and like I said, half of them will be non-locals, the numbers increase on some days and that keeps us extremely busy at times. We are used to it and we have a dedicated staff that stands ready to assist the patients who have faith in our works and competence. When they come here, we engage them and make sure they are attended to in time and to the best of our ability.
ND: What’s your staff complement like at Karanda Hospital?
PT: We have four doctors and between 35-40 nurses; all trained and competent enough to assist in any way possible.
ND: Any challenges that you would need the government to deal with?
PT: We do a lot of work outside of medical catchment, we do advertisements calling people to Karanda and we involve ourselves in a lot of social work, but the resources from the Health and Child Care ministry do not take into account the extra work that we do. We do nurses’ training, but when they graduate, we don’t get as many as we would want according to the work that we would have done. We advocate for more staff and more resources. ND: Do you sometimes get assistance from the government and are you satisfied with that?
PT: We have had assistance from the Health and Child Care ministry and the National Aids Council; we work closely together quite well. We have training for the University of Zimbabwe medical students and internal surgical internship and we need to lobby for extra resources.
ND: Given the manner you left Chiweshe and the violence that followed when villagers protested against your departure and the attachment you had created, do you miss Howard Mission?
PT: I had become attached and was getting used to people in Chiweshe and Howard Mission. We had developed an attachment on several projects including social work, children work, among other issues. It was a strong relationship, so we do miss people in Chiweshe. We were providing health care at Howard and abandoned such on short notice.
ND: In your view, why do you think people prefer mission hospitals to other ‘big’ public hospitals in cities? PT: It’s unaffordable for most people yet mission hospitals continue to provide accessible, affordable care. At least that’s what the people say and I can’t speak for other hospitals.
