Long Road from Quito, a book about the inspiring journey of Dr. David Gaus and Andean Health & Development is written by Tony Hiss. Hiss is the author of 13 books and was a staff writer at the New Yorker for 30 years.
Check out a review by the American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene
Listen to an interview with Dr. David Gaus and author Tony Hiss on Wisconsin Public Radio
Notre Dame Magazine, 1999, “The Road to Pedro Vicente” Global Health-Tulane Magazine Article, 2008, “Building a Hospital in Rural Ecuador” Milwaukee Magazine, 2008, “The Picture of Health” Think Spanish! Magazine, 2009, “Entrevista a Laura Dries” Notre Dame Magazine, 2010, “From Mountaintop to Global Health” The Hospitalist, 2010, “Hospitalist in the Developing World” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
55-year-old Marta has chronic kidney disease related to diabetes and hypertension. She has received hemodialysis a few times a week for the past year but missed a week of dialysis. Short of breath, she went to one of Ecuador’s public health centers outside of the small, coastal town of Quevedo.
Having been “in the field” now for more than 25 years, Andean Health & Development (AHD) has seen a very interesting and positive evolution of the “small hospital” and how it connects with primary health care services in the community.
In addition to patient care and training, AHD commits some of its resources to research activities. You might be asking yourself, “why would AHD conduct research endeavors in Ecuador when those resources could be used to address the great unmet need for medical care right now?” It’s a fair question that deserves careful consideration.
How can a hospital – with all its complex patient care flows, inventories, purchasing, billing, and production monitoring – do it all in an effective, meaningful way, while making sure every dollar is spent wisely? This is a challenge faced by virtually all hospitals.
Medicine is constantly evolving. As we gain knowledge and learn new skills, patient care improves. That’s why professional academies and hospitals in the U.S. provide—and demand—regular professional development.
More than 25 years have passed since Andean Health & Development began. Like any organization, it has faced multiple challenges: human, financial, social and even political.
We had a census of 50 hospitalized patients at Hesburgh Hospital in February: a new milestone. Where did they come from? Most came from Ecuador’s ministry of public health and social security systems.
COVID-19 has forced so many changes in the world, and AHD is no exception. The pandemic significantly changed the patient mix at our hospitals, had a substantial impact on our staff, and generally has exhausted everyone. It
Humans aren’t the only ones who get fatigued with age. Over time, medical equipment grows weary as well. Our two hospitals are equipped with medical equipment we received, in some cases, almost 20 years ago, and it was used before it got to us.
While conditions surrounding the pandemic in the U.S. appear more encouraging with each passing day, the same cannot be said about Ecuador and many other low-income countries. Latin America has been hit disproportionately hard compared to other regions of the world. During the past two months, public hospitals have once again filled to capacity,