2022 CURE Children's Hospital of Ethiopia Annual Report

CURE Children’s Hospital of Ethiopia

2022 Annual Report

abundantly more

CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OF ETHIOPIA

PURPOSE

CURE provides world-class surgical care to the world’s most vulnerable children

VISION

By 2026 to become internationally recognized as a center of excellence for holistic care, training, and research

MISSION

To provide a holistic healthcare service to children with disabilities that is safe, sustainable, and compassionate

Dr. Yodit Enkossa checks a patient’s vitals at a mobile clinic

CURE Children’s Hospital of Ethiopia Transforming children with disabilities to transform their communities

The numbers and statistics cited throughout this report reflect CURE’s Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22), which ran from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022.

A LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Adey Abate

CURE Children’s Hospital of Ethiopia (CURE Ethiopia) provides life-changing surgeries to the most underserved community groups in our society: children with treatable physical disabilities. We are committed to partnering with like-minded organizations to provide compassionate, patientcentered, and world-class healthcare services to reach more of the most vulnerable children.

In the fiscal year 2022, CURE Ethiopia made remarkable strides. In the pages that follow, you’ll meet some of the children who’ve experienced life change at CURE Ethiopia, both physically and emotionally. The children treated have now started to dream about their future and are no longer a burden on their families. Some patients who dropped out of school due to physical conditions have returned to resume their education. Others can help with household chores and actively participate in their communities.

CURE Ethiopia, guided by our strategic plan, has already identified focus areas for dedicated resourcing in the years to come. We have committed significant funding for the expansion and modernization of facilities to be implemented in the next three years. CURE Ethiopia will also add spinal care, as there is a substantial unmet need for this type of specialty care in Ethiopia. The treatment we offer will give children improved mobility and allow them to go to school, find

employment, and participate in society—while also prolonging their lives. Additionally, CURE Ethiopia is expanding the provision of comprehensive care for children with cleft conditions. Patients will receive nutritional support; ear, nose, and throat care; speech therapy; surgical care; and counseling.

CURE Ethiopia’s vision is to become internationally recognized as a center of excellence for holistic care, training, and research. To this effect, we are working in partnership with SafeCare, accredited by the International Society for Quality in Health Care External Evaluation Association, a global leader in quality improvement.

Achievements this past year and our future goals are only possible through collective and collaborative participation. We acknowledge the generosity and support of donors, partners, and government counterparts with much gratitude; without you, this year’s successes would not have been possible.

Sincerely,

Adey Abate Executive Director CURE Children’s Hospital of Ethiopia

CURE ETHIOPIA provides world-class surgical care for children living with treatable disabilities. Orthopedic services primarily include care for clubfoot, knock knees, bowed legs, and neglected trauma. Plastics/reconstructive care is expanding to serve children needing microvascular surgery.

OUR NETWORK

CURE Children’s Hospital of Ethiopia is part of CURE International, a nonprofit organization that operates a global network of children’s hospitals pairing world-class surgical care and counseling to serve children living with treatable disabilities and their families.

Jimma Hawassa

ETHIOPIA

CURE Children’s Hospital of Ethiopia

Jigjiga

Bahir Dar

Gondar

Davao City PHILIPPINES

Niamey NIGER

Addis Ababa ETHIOPIA Mbale UGANDA

Kijabe KENYA

Lusaka ZAMBIA Blantyre MALAWI

Bulawayo ZIMBABWE

Addis Ababa

BUILDING CAPACITY THROUGH TRAINING

Oxford University and CURE Ethiopia Create Clubfoot Training Program

Clubfoot is a common congenital disability that affects approximately 200,000 babies around the world each year, according to medical statistics. In Ethiopia alone, CURE estimates that 4,490 children are born with clubfoot every year.

Available healthcare is limited, and there are not enough doctors trained to treat complex conditions such as clubfoot. To help solve the problem, CURE Children's Hospital of Ethiopia (CURE Ethiopia) and NDORMS (Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences) from Oxford University’s Medical Services Division partnered to conduct research and develop a management and treatment process for older children with clubfoot. The training program will guide established medical professionals through the entire process with the hope that more doctors will be trained to treat clubfoot throughout the country. So far, 37 healthcare professionals, mainly physiotherapists and orthopedic surgeons, have benefited from the training.

Partner healthcare providers including Addis Ababa University Black Lion Hospital, St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College in Addis Ababa, University of Gondar Specialized Hospital in Gondar, Bahir Dar University –Tibebe Ghion Specialized Teaching Hospital in Bahir Dar, Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital in Hawassa,

Sodo Christian Hospital in Sodo, Cheshire Ethiopia, Alemachen Convalescent Home for Disabled Children, and Hope Walks have participated.

below: physiotherapists and casting practitioners being trained on angles of a child’s clubfoot

COMMITTED TO WORLD-CLASS CARE FOR CHILDREN

Access to Complex Microvascular Procedures Available to Children in Ethiopia

Three years ago, Sofonias, an eight-year-old boy, fell and broke his leg while playing outside with friends. His mom, Endawek, rushed him to a local hospital where the doctors performed routine surgery to fix the broken bones in his leg. After the procedure, everything seemed fine, and Sofonias was recovering. Unfortunately, an infection soon developed in Sofonias’ tibia (the large bone in the lower leg), preventing it from healing. Not only did the infection bring about tremendous pain, it also caused his leg to shorten.

Without specialized surgical intervention, Sofonias’s leg would need to be amputated to prevent the infection from spreading to his whole body. Thankfully, he received life-changing surgery by the grace of God, the support of generous donors worldwide, and the hands of CURE Ethiopia’s surgeons.

Endawek, a health worker, learned that CURE Ethiopia was holding a mobile clinic in their town and took Sofonias to be examined. It was at the mobile clinic that his healing journey began.

“If treatment hadn’t been paid for by CURE, we would have sold our house to pay for his surgery,” said Endawek.

Microvascular surgery joins the blood vessels in the recipient’s leg with the tiny blood vessels in the transferred

bone. The transplanted bone heals fast, enabling the leg to lengthen and adequate skin cover to areas where the soft tissues are poor. This reconstructive surgery requires trained surgeons, an operating microscope, specialized surgical instruments, and micro-stitches finer than a human hair. Previously, the surgery was performed at CURE Ethiopia by visiting teams of experts from around the world. This case was the first "in-house" microvascular procedure.

Sofonias feeling content during his healing journey

Sofonias is recovering well. His experience has paved the way for more children to receive this highly specialized surgery for years to come. The secondgrader says he hopes to grow up to be a doctor so he can help kids one day soon.

In addition to offering orthopedic and reconstructive procedures at most of its eight hospitals, CURE is always looking for opportunities to add specialized services not available elsewhere in the healthcare systems of host countries. This practice has resulted in several network hospitals developing unique specialties, such as complex neurosurgical procedures at CURE Uganda, the management of neglected traumatic hip dislocation in children at CURE Ethiopia, and now microvascular surgery at CURE Ethiopia.

SOFONIAS’S SURGERY IS THE FIRST OF MANY MICROVASCULAR SURGERIES TO BE PERFORMED AT CURE ETHIOPIA.

Now outfitted with the necessary training and equipment, the hospital expects to be able to perform 10–12 of these surgeries each year. CURE will be using this surgical technique on limb conditions that would otherwise require amputation. The grace of God is on full display in CURE’s quest to improve access to reconstructive surgery for children across the world.

pictured above: the CURE Ethiopia surgical team included (L to R) Dr. Tim Nunn, Medical Director and Orthopedic Surgeon; Dr. Tihut Teshome, Anesthesiologist; Dr. Dorothy Bbaale, Plastic Surgeon; and Dr. Tesfaye Mulat, Plastic Surgeon

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

Megertu’s Story

Megertu, now 20 years old, was born with clubfoot. It is a common congenital condition in which a baby’s foot points inward and downward. Megertu had the impairment in both feet.

Megertu was born in a remote farming village in Ethiopia where access to quality health care is scarce, and, if available, is not affordable to most families. Add to this the prevailing belief that children born with disabilities are an embarrassment, a burden, and a curse from God. As a result, they face a greater risk of abandonment, violence, and discrimination.

There is a high success rate for clubfoot correction, especially when treatment starts early, ideally shortly after the baby’s birth. But when the condition is left untreated, it can lead to immobility, significantly affecting a child’s quality of life. Sadly, access to essential health services is most lacking in places where it is needed most.

All of these contributed to Megertu not getting the help she needed early in her life.

CHANGE WAS COMING

But life, as Megertu knew it, was about to change. When she was eight years old, her mother died, leaving her completely in the care of her grandmother. Megertu’s grandmother advocated for treatment after she learned from Alemachen, a partner organization of CURE Ethiopia, that clubfoot could be corrected.

Dr. Tim Nunn leading Megertu’s surgery team

Megertu and her grandmother before surgery

COMING TO CURE

Megertu was ten years old when she took a trip to Addis Ababa and arrived at CURE. Immediately, CURE surgeons established a treatment plan for her that included Achilles tendon lengthening procedures, a midfoot osteotomy on one side, and a triple arthrodesis on the other.

Over time, Megertu bravely went through every surgical correction, follow-up care and treatment, and hospital stay, which led to healing. Finally, in January 2018, Dr. Tim Nunn, the Medical Director at CURE Ethiopia, gave Megertu a clean bill of health after a final checkup of her feet.

MORE THAN AN OVERCOMER

Today, with surgeries and hospital visits behind her, Megertu is back in school as a tenth grader. She lives in Addis Ababa with her aunt, Aynalem, who became her caregiver when Megertu’s grandmother died.

Occasionally, Megertu remembers her painful early childhood years, but now that she can walk on her own without difficulty, she says she realized “God gave me everything I have ever wanted.”

“The children at my new school don’t even know that I had a disability because I can walk up the stairs just like them,” Megertu says with a big smile.

Megertu brims with joy as she recalls being valued and loved by the staff at CURE Ethiopia. She says she came to CURE feeling worthless but left with “self-esteem at an all-time high.”

“I believe that CURE opened the door for me to have a productive, independent life,” Megertu shares. “Furthermore, I learned that I could overcome.”

“My experience [at CURE] has impacted me in many ways: I am happier, I have learned to pray, and I have great compassion for people suffering from disabilities.”

God gave me everything I have ever wanted.”

HOSPITAL LEADERSHIP TEAM

Adey Abate Executive Director

Dr. Tim Nunn

Medical Director

Mesfin Taye Director of Counseling

Sara Kahsay Nursing Director

Metasebia Mamo

Human Resources & Administrative Director

Dr. Yodit Enkossa

Quality & Patient Safety Director

Mahlet Teshome Facilities Director

Abinet Takele Finance Director

Debebe Leta

Program & Development Director

2022 FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

Total Revenue — ETB 121,875,440

Total Expense — ETB 138,411,029

CURE Ethiopia staff gathered in front of the hospital

PARTNERSHIPS

Addis Ababa University, Black Lion Hospital

Alemachen Convalescent Home for the Disabled

AO Foundation

Bahir Dar, Asella, and Arba Minch Physical Rehabilitation Centers

Bahir Dar University - Tibebe Ghion Specialized Hospital

CBM

Cheshire Ethiopia (Menagesha & Hawassa Branch Offices)

Cheshire Foundation Action for Inclusion (Bahir Dar & Jimma Project Offices)

College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa

Desert Rose International

Ethiopian Public Health Institute

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Association of Civil Society Organizations

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Ministry of Health

Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital

Heal and Teach Foundation

ICRC

Jimma University Medical Center

Limb Kind Foundation

Mother Teresa Missionaries of Charity

Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology, and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS)

Project Matrix

Rees-Jones Foundation

SIM medical missions team & Bingham School

Smile Train

Soddo Christian Hospital

St. Paul’s Millennium Medical College

Transforming Faces

The Hospital for Sick Kids, Toronto, Canada

University of Oxford

USAID

University of Gondar - CBR Program

University of Gondar Specialized Hospital

DONATE

CURE INTERNATIONAL INC.

AWASH BANK S.C.

SIDISK KILO BRANCH

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 01308227844900

SWIFT CODE: AWINETAA

REFER A CHILD

Cleft lip or palate conditions are assessed on a walk-in basis to the CURE hospital in Addis Ababa. A referral is not required.

CURE INTERNATIONAL INC.

HIBRET BANK S.C.

MEHAL ARADA BRANCH

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 1111810451305015

SWIFT CODE: UNTDETAAXXX

All orthopedic patients are prioritized according to clinical urgency and need a referral letter obtained from a doctor before attending the CURE clinic. The referral letter and a triage review will be considered when prioritizing clinic appointments with a surgeon.

Address Addis Ababa, 6 kilo adjacent Hamle 19 Park

Phone +251111237767 11

Website ethiopia.cure.org

Email info@cureethiopia.org

Socials @cureethiopia facebook.com/cureethiopia