Why Mission Hospitals Fail

Five reasons that we hope will never come to fruition with Diospi Suyana

The DIN A5 letter immediately caught the eye, as it had been posted in England a few days earlier by one of the Queen’s subordinates. The sender: Madeleine Channer. In an enclosed brochure, the nurse writes about her varied life, her cancer shortly before the pandemic and her faith in God. She also mentions her work at the “Clinica Urcos”, the legendary missionary hospital in southern Peru that had to close its doors a long time ago.

Mandeline Channer. A photo from when she was young.

1. As Mandeleine Channer recalls, the English hospital management could not find a sufficient number of missionary workers. Without missionaries who put their heart and soul into it, the days of a mission hospital are numbered. The financial loss and the tedious transition to another culture deter potential applicants. And at some point the last one turns off the light and closes the door quietly behind them.

2. The main reason why mission organizations in Africa, Asia and Latin America are running out of breath lies elsewhere: lack of finances . Without enough money in the coffers, all budget planning becomes waste and when the end of the road is reached, the facility is closed. As simple as that. It is almost always the salaries of the local employees that make a difference. There is a natural conflict of interest between the needs of poor patients and the salary expectations of employees. The ruins of hundreds of missionary clinics in the so-called 3rd world are reminiscent of their once proud past. But a chronic lack of money had meant the end for her despite her glorious merits.

3. Missionary hospitals are popular with the general public, but they are alien to a commercial medical market. Private clinics and private doctors see unwelcome competition in the operation of these charitable institutions. This often leads to the local medical profession influencing the national medical associations with the aim of putting the thumbscrew on the mission hospitals. The legal requirements for missionary doctors and nurses are increasing to such an extent that even the most well-intentioned give up at some point. In the meantime, foreign mission doctors who want to help at the Diospi Suyana Hospital have to pass a state examination. A real hurdle that deters.

4. In Africa in particular , corrupt governments have nationalized countless thriving missionary hospitals . In an insufficient medical system, “hospitals of faith” prove that it is also possible without corruption and sloppiness. Medical missions, then, are an unspoken indictment of an indifferent and venal state.

5. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the enthusiasm of the hospital founders will spread to the next generations. When love for the poor wanes and faith in God grows cold, the end is marked . Why bend over backwards and collect funds, staff and equipment when the effort is too difficult and the price too high.

Under the sun everything has its time and hour. At Diospi Suyana we pray that the passion of its actors and their longing for the work of God will not diminish in the next 20 years. God’s blessing is the energy that can give wings to even the wearyest. /KDJ

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