Rick Hodes M.D. – Ethiopia’s Renaissance Man
We had heard of this amazing physician and were eager to contact him. A couple weeks before our departure we sent him an email about our impending visit and he invited us to attend his clinic on the outskirts of Addis as well as a Friday night Shabbat (Jewish sunset celebration ) at his home.
After contacting Rick Hodes about our trip to Addis, he immediately e-mailed David several cases with history and physical exams as well as CT/MR scans, and asked for his opinion. As we were soon to learn, he has a multitude of unusual cases and is always eager for new ideas on how best to manage them. Rick, an internist who graduated from Middlebury College, Johns Hopkins medical school, and trained at the U. of Rochester, has been in Addis for over 25 years and runs several clinics in different areas of the city. His primary focus is on pediatric scoliosis (congenital and/or tuberculosis) and congenital heart defects/rheumatic disease. Ethiopia, and probably most of Africa, has an inordinate number of such cases due to the lack of early diagnosis and intervention. It is heart-breaking to see these young kids with such an absolutely catastrophic anomaly that will certainly marginalize their futures.
Rick has established his own foundation from which he pays for whatever treatment he can obtain. At this time he has 23 kids recovering in Ghana where the best spine surgeon on the continent operates. Surprisingly, the surgeon is able to obtain the necessary instrumentation and hardware for such complicated and risky procedures, which is elusive in Ethiopia. When the kids are recovered, they return to Addis. If they are orphans, or have family out of the city who are not able to provide the necessary care, Rick moves them into one of his 4 group homes and provides them with follow-up care in a family setting. When they are well enough, he enrolls them all in school. At this time he has 24 kids in the US for whom he has assumed legal financial responsibility and close to the same number more here in Ethiopia and he has adopted 5 Ethiopian kids as well.
He tells a wonderfully heart-warming story of a young child found on the streets of Addis who earned his own mere subsistence by shining shoes, as do many of these “street urchins”. By chance, an American journalist, Marilyn Berger, who came to Addis to write a book about Rick, passed by the disfigured youth daily and could tell he was acutely ill. She asked Rick for his help. “Let’s go find him!” said Rick and they hopped in his car and searched the sidewalks. Rick brought him to the clinic, ascertained that his severe kyphosis was secondary to TB and found a doctor in NY to donate his services so this young child could stand upright and walk again. Marilyn Berger was the wife (now widow) of Don Hewett, the producer of ABC’s “60 Minutes”, and this young shoe shine boy from the streets of Addis now lives on Park Avenue, sharing a street address with Steve Martin and Bono and receiving a quality education.
Rick makes regular trips to the states for fundraising so we were lucky to catch him when he was in town. He lives very simply in one of his group homes, which are more like a high school dormitory. His medical clinic is well-known and that makes it somewhat chaotic. On the day we were there, 8 students from an American college were also visiting, there were 2 young visiting medical students on a 6 month stint, as well as one of Rick’s kids who had finished school for the day, not to mention the young patient, her family members and a translator. (Rick speaks excellent Amharic since he has lived here for over 25 years, but Ethiopia has 83 spoken languages). I counted 22 people in the small 12x15 foot exam room, where Rick also read x-rays and did physical exams. Whew…
After examining his patients he readily opens his wallet and counts out as many “birrs” as needed for medicine or transportation for those patients without means. CT scans run $40, much more than the homeless could ever earn in a month.
Rick laments about the worst part of his job: deciding which patients (of which he has many!) will give back the most “bang for the buck” for his investment. He is acutely aware that his funds come from donations and he must spend the money wisely. On the day we visited, several patients were hopeful for spine reconstruction but they were “older” (i.e., past puberty) which made them less likely to have a truly successful outcome. He carefully factors in information about their education, the chances of their lives being truly enhanced, their general physical condition to be able to withstand the rigors of surgery, as well as management of their post-op care. He relentlessly networks any surgeons, any hospitals, any “foster families” in any country, who will sign up and help. He has been the subject of documentaries and books and is deserving of all the amazing adjectives used to describe him. HBO did a feature documentary about Rick in 2010 and “This is a Soul: An American Doctor’s Remarkable Mission in Ethiopia” by Marilyn Berger describes his extraordinary dedication.
Check him out at http://rickhodes.org , and U-tube. He is one of a kind! (feel free to donate to his foundation, if you wish. He truly helps those in need.)
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| A 9 year old girl with kyphosis of the spine secondary to TB. She will be sent to Ghana for spine reconstruction, paid for by generous donors.  Since she was post-puberty there would be no significant height or mobility change and the $25,000 needed for surgery in Ghana could be better spent on someone younger. Always, these are very tough choices. |
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Pott's Disease (TB of the spine) As Rick says: "The worst spines in the world come to my clinic"   |
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| David consults with Rick in his little exam room, as other observers stand by. |
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| Charinet, who had recently returned from Ghana after extensive heart and spinal surgery, holding a fun little "gecko" flashlight, one of many donated by Sun Company in California. He must wear his chest brace for several months. Below is a link for the HBO documentary about Rick (try it, I hope it works) HBO: "Making the Crooked Straight" |
