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, to establish models of self-sustainable, comprehensive health care 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.
After graduating from Notre Dame in 1984, David Gaus went to live in rural Ecuador to work with the suffering poor. He was astonished with the lack of even the most basic medical services, resulting in untold suffering and needless deaths. Thus began a still unfolding dream. David, with the help of Fr. Hesburgh, then President of Notre Dame, completed his M.D. and Master’s in Public Health and Tropical Medicine. He went back to rural Ecuador and with the help of some former classmates and other contributors, managed to build a hospital in the town of Pedro Vicente Maldonado. After seven years and countless sacrifices on the part of David and his family, the hospital has become the only private, self-sustaining hospital in Ecuador and possibly all of Latin America. David’s ability to work with all levels of government has allowed the hospital to become a beacon of hope for the establishment of other medical facilities in Ecuador and other developing Latin American countries.
David Gaus and Andean Health & Development (AHD) discovered that the neglected rural hospital is a critical component of health care 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 many sick people lack access to inexpensive hospital services to save lives when crisis strikes.
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.
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