Toronto doctor ordered back to Canada after removal from Zimbabwe hospital sparks protests

Dr. Paul Thistle, A Canadian doctor, trained in Toronto and originally from Scarborough, was ordered by the Salvation Army to return home from Zimbabwe in early August after spending 17 years working as a doctor at the Salvation Army Howard Hospital in a rural part of the country north of Harare. He spent nearly two decades heading a Salvation Army-run hospital, Howard Hospital in Zimbabwe is said to be en route back to Canada, after his ouster reportedly sparked violent protest in the impoverished rural community.

Dr. Paul Thistle, told his supporters via email on Aug. 6 that the Salvation Army had ordered him to leave his post as chief medical officer and only full-time doctor at the 144-bed Howard Hospital (which serves 270,000 people in the rural Chiweshe region) as of Sept. 1.

“We leave with mixed emotions,” the Salvation Army officer wrote in an email obtained by the Peterborough Examiner earlier this month. “Howard Hospital is on the verge of collapse. Our hearts are weeping for the people of Chiweshe.”

But on Friday, a day after a public protest over Thistle’s removal reportedly turned violent and led to at least a dozen arrests, the physician received a 48-hour notice to return to Canada.

“His head is probably just spinning,” said Warren Viegas of Toronto, a close friend of Thistle’s who spoke to him by phone after he received the notice Friday.

Viegas said the doctor, who has two boys with wife Pedrinah, a Zimbabwean nurse who also worked at Howard Hospital, had not planned to leave his post in the immediate future.

“The impression I get from him is that he would rather continue to serve at the hospital there,” added Stuart Isherwood, 42, Thistle’s childhood friend from Scarborough.

Andrew Burditt, spokesperson for Salvation Army in Canada, said Friday afternoon that Thistle was “en route” home on the organization’s orders. While he could not elaborate on the reasons for Thistle’s removal, Burditt said all Salvation Army officers are subject to transfers.

Some of Thistle’s supporters and friends, however, have pointed to other forces at play in the politically unstable country that may have contributed to the Salvation Army’s decision to transfer the doctor.

According to local media reports, Thistle was removed after he raised concerns that money and supplies he had gathered for the facility never made it from the organization’s Zimbabwe office to Howard Hospital.

“There are some in Zimbabwe who feel he has been too vocal or too critical and now are trying to move (him) out,” said Isherwood.

Whatever the reason, news he was leaving sparked outrage and concern among local people reliant on his care and longtime supporters of the doctor’s 17-year mission to improve healthcare in the region.

“We’re really deeply disturbed and saddened by what’s happening over there with Dr. Thistle,” said Robyn Segall, marketing manager of Ve’ahavta, a non-profit Jewish humanitarian and relief committee that has provided both volunteers and supplies to Howard Hospital since 1998. “Mostly, we’re concerned that the community is going to be ignored.”

I have followed Dr Thistle’s work at Howard hospital with avid interest. He represented a committed medical professional who has a passion for the people of Chiweshe and the medical profession. This combination of a deep love for the people he served together with a passion for the profession made him a great doctor. Howard Hospital was the fortress for many people who could not afford medical attention and had been denied medical attention at many hospitals in Zimbabwe. While most hospitals turn away patients for financial reasons, Dr Thistle opened the doors of Howard and offered the much needed medical attention. There are a few doctors who are selfless and put the needs of the community ahead of their needs, especially in Zimbabawe where most doctors are in for the money.

 

Dr Thistle, raised most of the money used at Howard and managed to keep the hospital from collapsing. This is why the usually passive Zimbabwean people protested against his removal. What will become of the people of Chiweshe and beyond. It is sad to find that the church and politics get mixed up and hamper community development. Christian values cannot coexist in the middle of meddling  greed and selfish ambition.   If there were more Dr Thistles, passionately contributing to the community and going the extra mile, Zimbabwe would be a much better place to live in. I am saddened that those who give unsparingly of their selves are stopped in their tracks by those who have the power. Those sending Dr Thistle home, have probably never raised money for the hospital and do not have any means or knowhow to do so. They have no regard for the community but are watching out for their selfish interests. These same people have expensive medical plans and fly to South Africa or abroad when they have a medical challenge.

 

It is sad that we have to wait for foreigners to come and raise money for our communities and when they do we run them out as fast as we can. Maybe if we provided services to our own communities the loss of Dr Thistle wouldn’t be felt so deeply. He will get assigned to another hospital and do good wherever he is working, the people of Chiweshe will forever talk about the days when they got help from Howard Hospital and how Dr Thistle touched their lives.

• What becomes of our nation where any organisation, individual, church that is helping people is pushed out and barred from helping people?
• Can we do everything by ourselves? Are we an island?
• Shall greed and selfishness triumph over justice?

The rest of us shall complain and get on with our lives and nothing is ever going to change. Good people always watch as evil prevails.

The Salvation Army has not appointed Thistle to a new post. The organization has also yet to find a new chief medical officer for the Zimbabwe hospital.

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