About AHD

AHD’s Website: www.andeanhealth.org

When Dr. David Gaus first met Natalia, a pregnant eighteen-year-old rushed to the hospital with a seizure, he suspected that her disturbing symptoms—including swelling in her hands and high blood pressure —meant she was suffering from Eclampsia, the leading cause of death among pregnant women in developing countries.  Doctors can detect and manage the condition in its early stages during routine visits, but similar to her peers in rural Ecuador, Natalia received little pre-natal care, and Gaus needed to operate immediately to save both mom and her baby in the dire situation.  Within fifteen minutes, Gaus was performing an emergency cesarean section and saved them.  Both of Gaus’ patients are doing well and extremely grateful to the staff of Pedro Vicente Maldonado for quality treatment and to Gaus for creating high-risk maternity care center in an area bereft of such secondary care facilities.

Gaus and Andean Health & Development (AHD) discovered that the neglected rural hospital is a critical component of healthcare systems, especially in rural areas in developing countries.  Old-fashioned “primary healthcare” doesn’t include the rural hospital – too costly and not significant.  AHD realized that sick people like Natalia lack access to inexpensive hospital services to save lives when crisis strikes.

Since 2007, AHD has provided high-quality medical services to an extremely poor population in a completely self-sustainable way, treating all patients who seek attention regardless of their ability to pay.  Innovative, local funding mechanisms, including public-private partnerships, made this happen.

Grabbing the attention of the World Health Organization, AHD now serves as an advisor to the esteemed global institution’s vision renew the role of the rural hospital in primary healthcare.  AHD has also joined forces with a prestigious Ecuadorian medical school to train physicians within its innovative and carry that method or teaching throughout Ecuador.

Most people need a hospital at a critical moment in their lives.  Without crisis care, many people would suffer serious illness or die.  The rural poor in developing countries are no different.   AHD has proven that hospitals are within the reach of communities everywhere.

Andean Health & Development (AHD), a U.S. based 501(c)3 corporation, was founded in 1995 by Dr. David Gaus and Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, CSC, President Emeritus, University of Notre Dame, and Past President of the Rockefeller Foundation, to establish models of self-sustainable, comprehensive healthcare in poor, rural areas of Latin America where there are high risk populations of women and children. Saludesa is the foundation established in Ecuador by AHD in 1997 to carry out the work of AHD in Ecuador.

The advisory board of AHD, comprised of members with extensive experience in healthcare policy and administration, tropical public health, and successful private business ventures, provides oversight of Saludesa. Advisory members include Dr. Gaus, Michael Heisler, MD from Emory University, and Barnett Cline, Professor Emeritus, Department of Tropical Medicine, Tulane University.

AHD has begun its program in rural Ecuador.

Visit our website at www.andeanhealth.org for more information.