I have added ‘as I see it’ to act as a clear declaration
that I am very inexperienced, both as a doctor and in years, and have had very
little exposure in such hospitals. Little, but significant. My views come from
neither statistical data nor hard evidence, but simply the emotional and
genuine sentiments from my close friends whose view I can trust and identify
with. My objective is not to put down any organisations or people, or even
dispel any enthusiasm towards mission hospitals; but rather for people to see
clearly that there is a much larger problem than a simple lack of doctors that
threaten health care in rural India. And to quote my aunt who is a PhD in old
testament: “the institutionalization of the church in India is seeing the
church sinking into an alarming condition where there seems to be no vision or
sense of purpose that corresponds to the dictates of the gospel.” Which is
heavily showing in the hospitals managed by them.
Sorry to start on such a gloomy note 😊
perhaps my views are highly biased, perhaps they will turnaround completely in
a few years, or maybe this needs to be said so that it can reach the corner of
someone’s mind and initiate whispers of change. So, with a collaboration of
experiences from different corners of India; here goes the good, the bad, and
the ugly…
The Good-
The concept of mission hospitals brought an air of
inspiration for a lot of us. The idea that like-minded doctors work tirelessly
towards a common goal of doing what God intended for them despite the existence
of a comfortable, well reciprocated life in the private sector made us want to
strive to acquire that sort of passion. Cause we had seen in; face to face
during our small exposure trips. There are hospitals where Doctors; even if
they have to work everyday from 8- 10 are happy to do it because they have each
other, and a community that they have grown to love and serve. Where in the
middle of nowhere; excitement, laughter and memories are created evaporating
any longing for a city life. Where everyone from the director to the sweeper is
treated equally. In fact where everyone works the same amount regardless of
your degree. There are places where consultants alternate calls with the junior
doctor. Where learning is an active lifestyle; be it clinical skills, to
ultrasounds, to life lessons and lessons about God. Where work is a passion and
not a sacrifice. Yes there are such hospitals! Where nurses work beyond their duty
hours, and good patient care is the emphasis. Junior doctors get to learn more
than they ever expected, some are doing independent C- sections. With the
increase in learning, they get an equal amount of trust to manage patients
which only makes them work harder. A significant point to note is that in most
of these hospitals, the burden of patients and their inability to afford higher
centers is felt and is met with compliance and compassion. As in the whole
hospital feels it, making way for a wholesome treatment and a united front.
Good company is what makes it worthwhile. Some have prayer partners who go on
prayer walks, or cook food (for the first time) together; basically they get to
spend quality time with each other. Some are able to see legends of Indian
missions at work, and learn far more than medicine and get the inspiration they
need to push forward. There are even hospitals where there is open sharing of
the gospel, despite repeated persecution. These are places where lives are
shared, lives are saved, and lives are born again.
The Bad-
From all my conversations, the most common element I hear
(and have experienced) is loneliness. The extreme of which is having an average
of 3 patients a week, duty hours of 9am- 12pm, and literally nothing to do (too
isolated to get an internet connection) and no one to talk to. And that’s bad,
people can go crazy! Perhaps its hitting us hard cause we’re fresh out of an
unbelievable college life, but its dawned on us that no one should be put
through this extreme, and loneliness is not something people should get used
to. You would be surprised to know how lonely one can feel even in a hospital
surrounded by people. You know how I talked about having a like-minded
community? What if that didn’t exist, and in place is a “let’s just do our job
and go home” environment? It can put even the best of us down, and makes you
look once again for a hint of motivation to serve. It’s really hard to work
with the attitude you intended to have when all around you everyone seems to
follow a different agenda. For lots of us, coupled with this loneliness is a
severe lack of spiritual nourishment. Perhaps gone are the days when a
Christian mission hospital would mean having fellowship and worship together,
and abiding by Christian values. There are places where the hospital exists
solely because it once HAD a vision, and where great things used to happen,
where there WAS a big demand. I once heard a great man of God and doctor say:
“mission hospitals whose purpose is to only exist for the sake of existing have
definitely lost their purpose”. These are places where the administration is
least supportive, and only look at numbers and finance. There are places where
there are no senior consultants, sometimes no other junior doctors and where
the staff are less than competent. It’s a startling discovery when you realize
that being a mission hospital doesn’t mean you need to care for the poor, or
have any sort of spiritual support system. In some places the consultants don’t
work after 5pm, and the hospital functions as a referral center. So we’re left
with no one to talk to, no one to pray with, no job satisfaction, no source of
learning, and sadly a declining motivation.
The Ugly-
I think this best describes the fact that people have used
the title of a mission hospital for personal gain, in a variety of ways. A
particular story that comes to mind is when a junior doctor was asked to give a
lesser dose of oxytocin so as to deliberately prolong labour leading to a
probable C- section! It’s sad to hear of such things, and I who started out
having the most optimism for mission hospitals am heart broken. There are
places where the doctors hardly work 15 days a month, whilst portraying a
different picture to everyone else. These are places where there was no effort
to bring about a community in the first place, where doctors who had joined
were treated badly and were driven to leave owing to the fact that the person
wanted to be their own boss. Where the administration is least bothered and give
a below par pay to really qualified nurses. Where it seems as if the hospital
were to close down, no one would care! I don’t know the statistics but there
has been a dramatic decline in the functioning of mission hospitals over the
last 25 years, revealing a poor administration as a major cause. Mind you, most
of these were managed by church bodies. A junior doctor was told to admit
everyone who comes because they need more income. Really poor patients are sent
away, and you can see the desperation and hope in their eyes turn to sadness
and despair. A man I highly admire once said to me that he charges the minimum
possible for procedures and treatment and even with that his hospital is able
to make enough profit. Just imagine how much profit everyone else is making.
There are places where drugs are sold at 4 times the actual price. Recently
I’ve heard of honest, passionate, strong willed Christian doctors feel a sense
of defeat and injustice, leading to them moving out in search of a place where
they could attain the freedom of doing good. Naïve young doctors like us are
left wondering where this is going lead; is that it for the future of mission
hospitals? Where good cannot be done even if you tried. A quote from one of my
friends: “We can be happy here only if we stop caring about what’s happening
around us.”
What makes me more upset is that the churches have done nothing,
and have shown no intent on doing anything to improve the situation, despite
repeated promises earlier on when we were even more naïve. There is no
structure in place to ensure the sacredness of the vision and mission of these
hospitals. Nor is there an attempt to maintain sources of spiritual food. It’s
like these hospitals are telling us: why do you want to serve the poor? Work
for an income and be happy. The painful fact is, that people just don’t care.
Would it be so bad, or take so much effort to just pray
together, and reaffirm our commitment to use our abilities for God’s work?
Hospitals like what I depicted earlier exist, I’ve seen them; and my friends
work in them right now. It really doesn’t take much to make that happen, all we
need to do is put aside our own agendas and simply build a community together.
A community of friends, family; sharing our joys and pain with each other,
enabling us to become better people with a heart to serve the people suffering
around us…To have meals together, and enjoy a movie now and then. Or simply to
just talk about things other than work. A batch of us left to do good and decrease
suffering in this world, but have realized the world is a mean place, and
working in a mission hospital needn’t offer any solace. The best of us have
lost heart, and are in a process to revive it by looking at others who are in
better places, recognizing that all is not lost. We thought the hardships of
mission life would be electricity and water shortages, or busy emergencies and
endless days with hardly any sleep. But none of us expected this. These are
definitely experiences we will one day be thankful for, for it has showed us
early-on the hypocrisy that exists; and to not judge a book by its cover. Lots
of us have turned to God, for that is what we do when we are left with nothing.
I seek change. With the future of sponsorship looking bleak
and the way certain hospitals are right now, people won’t be looking to go back
unless they have an obligation; and this spells disaster.
Eric Williams.
