A HOSPITAL IN NEED OF HEALING

The Salvation Army in Canada Remains Committed to Howard Hospital, Zimbabwe   Toronto, August 23, 2012 –

The Salvation Army in Canada has been informed by its International Headquarters located in London, England, that Howard Hospital remains operational following the recent reassignment of the Chief Medical Officer, Captain Dr. Paul Thistle.

Patients are being treated by the two doctors and other medical staff at the hospital. A new Acting Hospital Administrator has been assigned and is in place to guide the facility through this transition. According to the statement issued by the Army’s International Headquarters, service will continue and be enhanced by significant, planned future investment in the hospital.

Since this situation began, The Salvation Army in Canada has been in regular contact with its International Headquarters. A team under the direction of International Headquarters will be heading as soon as possible to Howard Hospital to review and analyze this situation further. The goal of this group is to better understand the situation on the ground in Zimbabwe, and to reaffirm our continued support for the hospital and local community.

“As an organization, we remain committed to Howard Hospital and to the people of Zimbabwe today and in the future,” said Commissioner Brian Peddle, Territorial Commander for The Salvation Army in Canada and Bermuda. ”We consider the health of its patients and the well-being of the staff at Howard Hospital to be of paramount importance.”

As the home territory for Captain Dr. Paul Thistle and Captain Pedrinah Thistle, The Salvation Army in Canada is working to ensure the safe return of the Thistle family. The Salvation Army will work to ensure that this transition period runs smoothly and will do what is needed to help them reacclimatize to life in Canada. Once they are home and settled, consultation will take place with them regarding their future appointments.

“Our first priority is to welcome the Thistles back to Canada,” said Commissioner Peddle. “I have been in communication with Paul and anticipate further dialogue upon his return home.”

Canadians have always generously supported the work of Howard Hospital. A statement from our International Headquarters confirms that “systems of internal and external audit are in place and that we will investigate the processing of donations to Howard Hospital as a further act of accountability to our donors.”

The Salvation Army in Canada will soon be sending a shipment of medical supplies valued at more than $300,000 to Howard Hospital shortly.

Learn more at www.SalvationArmy.ca  About The Salvation Army:…

For further information please contact:

Andrew Burditt National Director of Marketing and Communications
The Salvation Army
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Chris LeBouthillier  September 5, 2012 at 9:13 pm

Having trained in Zimbabwe with Dr. Thistle as my preceptor I can assure you that nobody is nearly as competent or hard working as he is. He is a man with an undeniable passion for medicine and cares for people like no other. Taking him away from Howard is a crime.

I think we can all agree that there is corruption within the ranks of SA Zim. I think we can go further to say that this corruption influenced IHQ. And finally, I think we can all agree that SA Canada is aware of what is going on but too afraid to admit it and bring this SA scandal into the spotlight.

SA Canada – you need to come to your senses and “GIVE HOPE TODAY” to the people of Zimbabwe by fighting for what’s right.

Tina and David Ivany  September 7, 2012 at 2:39 pm

This is an absolute disgrace. Paul and Pedrinah, our cousins,
have done all the work to keep this hospital running under the
direst circumstances. Only now, after their “re-assignment” – a
lovely sanitized word-play to disguise the real situation, does the
Army IHQ suggest investigating the corruption on site. Only now, after years of underfunding, does it talk about “enhanced future investment in the hospital” – words that Dr. Thistle and his team have waited years to hear. Paul does not need to be re-acclimatized to Canada. Unfortunately, there is only one Dr.
Paul Thistle and his heart is with his patients in Zimbabwe.
Let him go, and you will never see the likes of him again.

Tom  September 8, 2012 at 12:00 am

I lived in Zimbabwe and met Paul Thistle on quite a few occassions. Perhaps people should stop donating to The Salvation Army until this gets resolved. To remove Thistle is just a bad move on the SA’s part. The leadership needs to repent.

Elizabeth Argent  September 9, 2012 at 10:57 am

Once again, shame on the Army! This morning in our church bulletin is yet another piece of propaganda under the guise of a press release ensuring members of the SA that all is well and good and going according to plan with HH and Dr. Thistle. This could not be farther from the truth. They continue to assert that it’s business as usual at HH. This is nothing short off a lie. The $300 thousand shipment is no longer going over as they claim. Which, by the way is not a SA donation of medicines and supplies but a donation made by doctors from the Trillium hospital-the SA is only responsible for the $15 thousand shipping costs- that shipment has now understandably been pulled. Stop with the words and start with the actions. Shame on the SA leadership both abroad and in Canada.

Ed King  December 3, 2012 at 11:04 pm

It is so unchristian how the sally ann has treated the Thistles. the secular society would support them more than this organization.
It is a sad commentary in the way the army has hid their head in the sand.
They will pay a price for their neglect to this Godly family.

Gerardo Gochez  December 10, 2012 at 8:33 pm

I have read with interest the news about Captain Thistle. I know what I am about to say it may not be fully in line with the general thought and I know procedures in the Army can be hard to accept, yet I am sure maybe a middle way can be found.

The blow has been given already, environment in Howard hospital may not be the best. Captains are going back home, BUT have you ever considered proposing and asking Captain Thistle for the Army clinic in Haiti? It is closer to Canada and with as much need as in Africa, besides being a french speaking country also and maybe a more friendly crew ready to accept and work with them. There is still purpose in the captains life and this is a close call also for the army in Zimbabwe.

I just thought about it and it may be something that may relieve the anxiousness that I am sure it is being felt at this event. God bless you and thanks for hearing my opinion. I wish the best for you all.

Gay Pratt August 23, 2012 at 12:07 pm

This is too little to late. Where was the IHQ and THQ when all this was happening. How could the IHQ allow HQ in Zimbabwe to put Capt(Dr.) P Thistle through what they have. IHQ must have know about the corruption and money missing or arriving too late. As for the Howard Hospital functioning with out Dr. Thistle, Do you not listen to the news??? I have been to Howard Hospital, because of the SA lack of backbone, People are dying, and suffering, Nurses have been arrested, hospital equipment stolen. All because of certain Zim SA personnel who have a personal vendetta against Paul . Even the Government of Zimbabwe has wanted Paul to remain at Howard. Amazing that our own SA took so long to get involved. Here is a man who has given the SA the best PR they could have, He has been honored by his peers he is a humble and dedicated physician and officer and where is the SA support for him when he needed it. It is outside the SA that Paul received help I am embarrassed to be SA. Wm Booth must be rolling in his grave to see what the SA has allowed to happen to one of his own.

Givvy August 23, 2012 at 12:23 pm

The hospital is operating at less than half the capacity. for the sake of the community please bring him back. he should be where he is needed

SalvationArmy.ca

August 23, 2012 at 1:43 pm

Thank you for your comments. Our International Headquarters confirms that Howard Hospital is operating with two doctors plus other medical staff. A plan is in place for the future of the hospital and while this facility is International in nature, we remain committed to supporting its work. In fact, a container with medical supplies valued at more than $300,000 is already en route to Zimbabwe.

jennifer reid August 23, 2012 at 6:00 pm

When I first went to Howard Hospital in 2001 I was struck by how old and delapidated its buildings are, windows with no screens let alone glass, peeling paint, out-dated equipment, empty supply shelves. People line up for care, and then again for medication (which often runs out), and family members sleep on the floors beside patieents’ beds. And yet, those ramshackle buildings were filled with life and hope and service. On day two of my visit, I was shown “the new Howard Hospital”, a fine expansive building, with fresh walls and wiring and plumbing for updated medical facility. I was told that a Salvation Army donor had left millions of dollars to build this new hospital that the people so desperately need. So what happened to this new Howard Hospital? Somehow, those millions of dollars given to the SA “ran out.” The buildings are there, but are as empty as a ghost town, right beside the old hospital which pulses with life. There now becoming delapidated from non-use and neglect, and the Zimbabwean authorities declared it unfit for use in 2006, but you’ll not find a single word about this in any SA press statement. Such massive waste and mismanagement of donor dollars. I was teaching clinical midwifery at Howard in 2001 and we were asking Canadians to donate $4 so that we could administer AIDS drugs to women in labour to prevent spread of HIV to their babies. We knew the women were going to die because there were no AIDS medications available then, but the babies were more likely to be adopted by other families if they were HIV-negative. The people see the new hospital, empty, and reports from people in Zimbabwe are saying that service provision in the old hospital is a shell of its former self since the Thistles left. And people there seem to be talking about corruption in the handling of funds, and how unfair it is to them that the Thistles have been forced out. Lives are at stake. Is it really okay with all of us that the same people who allowed the “slippage” of the new hospital funds to do this investigation? Doesn’t SA need outside assistance to get to the bottom of it? And if its not a personal vendetta agianst the Thistles, why do they have to leave while the investigation is occurring? Lives are at stake and the right actions need to be taken.

Brian Nichols August 23, 2012 at 8:10 pm

The word I have had today from inside Howard Hospital is that only one doctor remains, there are only 2 patients in the hospital and no medicine in the pharmacy. This is a hospital that normally averages more than 300 patients per day. Where is the truth? I have been told that $18,000. worth of building supplies that were purchased with money raised in our Peterborough community have been looted. We know by whom. People are dying unnecessarily. Wake up to what is happening here and stop sending out false information.

Lorna Rogers Simard August 23, 2012 at 8:36 pm

Why does Dr. Thistle have to be removed? This makes no sense. If the Army can now send medical supplies and personnel to assist, why don’t they leave Dr. Thistle there to use these resources? Your press release does not explain why he is being removed? It makes no sense whatever.

Have you seen Dr. Thistle’s recently recorded U tube video recorded by presumable a Zim. reporter interviewing him in full uniform? It is so sad – he is standing there in full uniform defending the leadership of TSA by saying you are moving him without knowing or understanding the real situation.

You should be doing your investigation and sending these resources with him in place. If you are moving him for supposed safety reasons, who are you afraid of? The community supports him, the ambassador here in Ottawa from Zimbabwe has gone to Zimbabwe last week and I have heard this ambassador speak – the Mugabe government supports and appreciates the work of the Army and Dr. Thistle in particular, and in this instance the ambassador has said their government will not interfere with the internal workings of the Army – so who is a threat to his safety? Are you afraid of your own leadership in Zimbabwe causing harm to him?

From everything that has appeared in the media, IHQ should be transferring Commissioner Chigariro, not Dr. Paul Thistle. You are moving the wrong person. do your investigation, send your additional resources continue to support the Howard, but leave Dr. Thistle in place and move your Commissioner from Zimbabwe.

Brian Simard August 24, 2012 at 9:37 am

Right. Half of the surgeons in Zimbabwe (Dr. Paul Thistle) are not working but everything is fine. I find no line Item on the financial statements related to the Howard hospital. I did find this on the SA Canada website:

“The Salvation Army in Canada has a working relationship with a group of people from the Trillium Hospital in Mississauga. This group (headed up by Dr. Michael Weinberg and his friend Bert Amato) solicit donations of money and goods on behalf of Howard Hospital. The Salvation Army holds the funds they raise. When they have gathered enough material to fill a container, The Salvation Army provides volunteers to load it, and then pays the shipping invoices from the funds held for this group.” Is this the same scenario? So the Salvation Army in Canada tries to take credit for shipping a container that others have filled?

If there is a plan publish it and show us how it has been followed to date, milestones etc…

DAVID LUNT August 24, 2012 at 9:56 am

Dr. Paul Thistle has been the head doctor at Howard Hospital for over 16 years. Hemads the mistake of becoming a Salvation Army officer in the last few years so this is how he is treated. Remember this when you see the kettles at Christmas.

jennifer reid August 24, 2012 at 12:04 pm

This is a mess. The investigation needs to be conducted by someone OUTSIDE the Salvation Army. It sounds like donation are being stolen, and this is AFTER the Thistles left?? And I am hearing from people in ZIm that services at the hospital are falling apart and they are running out of drugs. If people don’t get their AIDS and TB medications, on time, every sigle day, they are at very high risk of developing resistance…. then the drugs won’t work on them any more, and they spread the resistant strain to to others…. even to people on the meds (and then the meds won’t work for them either). There could be a full-scale outbreak of resistant disease at Howard. All the good work that was done, by the Howard staff, with the support of donors and volunteers, will be undone.
We all need to push for the investigation to be external.

SalvationArmy.ca August 24, 2012 at 1:15 pm

Thank you for your comments. As our press release states above, a team from International Headquarters will be travelling to Howard Hospital as soon as possible to review and analyze the situation further. Further to that, The Salvation Army’s International Headquarters confirms that “systems of internal and external audit are in place and that we will investigate the processing of donations to Howard Hospital as a further act of accountability to our donors.”

John Sullivan August 24, 2012 at 3:45 pm

My parents were missionary-officers in Africa. I was born there, am a former officer, and for the past fifty years have been a minister in the United Church of Canada. I have been the senior minister of some of the largest congregations in the denomination, and at eighty, I am still active, serving a rural charge.

I have become aware that a large contribution to Howard has been made by one of our United Churches and handed directly to the administrator at Howard. The church is requesting that the money be returned until the issue of Dr. Thistle is resolved. The officer-administrator is named in the report, and the church has tried to contact him without success.

All someone would need to do from that particular congregation is to report it to the United Church Observer and suggest they write an article about it.

United Church people are encouraged to divide their tithe money in half, with half going to the local and national church, and the other half to charities of their choice. In the past when the national church hears of mismanagment of funds by non-government organizations they inform our members and adherents not to support the charity.

Because UCC memers are undoubtedly the largest contributors to TSA, and the readership of the Observer is largely made up of those in their later years, a directive from the national church would be all they would need to remove the Army from their wills, and to refrain from donating annually as they have in the past.

The Canadian territory therefore needs to be more transparent to the public and more supportive of Dr. Thistle, who is considered by many to be a Salvation Army Mother Teresa.

August 25, 2012 at 11:10 am

It is an absolute disgrace what has happened to Dr. Thistle at Howard Hospital recently. I am not a member of the Salvation Army, but I am a physician (obsterician/gynecologist) who has volunteered at Howard on 4 separate occasions. I just got back from Howard Hospital in July after working there for 3 months. I know the situation on the ground there very well. Your press release that says that the hospital is functioning well is completely inaccurate. When I was there, the hospital was busting at the seams, stretched beyond capacity with sick patients. The only reason it was staying afloat was because of the extraordinary efforts of one man, Dr. Paul Thistle. He was working ridiculous hours, seeing over a hundred patients a day and doing complex surgeries. On top of that he was doing the duties that the hospital administration should have been taking care of. It was quite obvious when I was there that the hospital administrator was completely incompetent and downright obstructive.

How can you say that the hospital is running well with 2 doctors? What nonsense is that? I know these 2 doctors. They are not obstetricians or surgeons. They are general doctors. Dr Thistle is formally trained as an obstetrican and gynecologist, who has done extra training in general sugery, oncology surgery, urology surgery, complex wound management. How many of these types of doctors (with the surgical skills of Paul Thistle) do you have waiting in your ranks to replace him? The decision to transfer him back to Canada with one month notice (and then later at 48 hours notice) is an irresponsible and downright dangerous decision. You cannot replace a doctor like that without at least a 6 months transition period with him and the new doctor both in place. I know for a fact that many women in that region will die of complications of pregnancy because he is not there. And where are all the sick and dying patients right now that I saw in the other wards? They are not at Howard; that has been confirmed. There are hardly any patients in the hospital right now. I can tell you they are not in Harare; they cannot afford the transport or the hospital fees.

I urge you to wake up. Stop trying to protect your organization and focus your investigations on where the real problem lies, the leadership at the SA Territorial headquarters in HarareGet Dr. Thistle back to Howard as soon as possible so more people in the Chiweshe region don’t die and suffer unnecessarily.

shirley watkinsn August 28, 2012 at 12:13 am

I have read these comments, and am so sad that the SA is so ‘cold’ and seemingly indifferent to the people that come to HH for assistance. So much for ‘we care’, since ‘we’ don’t….
I have also been to HH and know about the long hours and devotion that Paul has for these people. He is a true Christian man….so where are all the others who are supposed to support him? Where are his superior (in name only, please) officers that have made this decision to simply pull him out and leave about 250,000 people without medical care..and hope?
SW

Lorna Rogers Simard August 28, 2012 at 9:24 am

You are telling people above, “If you have questions, we would suggest contacting The Salvation Army in Zimbabwe, or contacting our International Headquarters.” I contacted the Zim territory last week and have had no response. Now their THQ website has been removed from the web. When you type into your browser http://www.SalvationArmyZim.org. up comes a box saying Bad Request – Invalid Host Name – so how are people to contact them now.

as for IHQ, many people have emailed them with questions and comments and they just refer emails to the Canadian THQ and replies are received from THQ here – IHQ remains silent.

This seems like an internal SA 3 ring cIrcus – IHQ deflecting emails to THQ Canada, and Canada telling people to contact IHQ and the Zim territory which has their website removed from the web.

Ultimately the buck starts and stops with IHQ but we are all praying that SA leadership does the right thing in this situation and put the Thistle’s ASAP back at the Howard.

James August 28, 2012 at 9:56 am

Miraculously, they have found a Doctor (i can only assume of equal or greater expertise) to replace Dr. Paul Thistle, according to Commissioner Vinece Chiagariro.

Can the Salvation Army confirm this to be true? I highly doubt it, but I await a response.

john Sullivan August 28, 2012 at 3:21 pm

It saddens me to know that United Church people, who have made large contributions to the work of the Howard Hospital, have had to ask that the money be returned, until the issue with Captain Dr. Thistle has been resolved.

Instead of their concern being treated with sensitivity, the only response to their request, and the heartfelt pleas of others who have written to this site, is for the tambourine to be held out asking for more money!

Why would anyone in their right mind make a contribution to THQ, knowing that it would be sent on to IHQ, which would send it on to THQ Zim, with the knowledge that some of it would disappear before it reached the hospital?

Kim MacDonald August 28, 2012 at 7:48 pm

I too worked as a physician at Howard Hospital for three months this past year. You won’t find a more dedicated, kinder or skilled physician in Zimbabwe, or pretty much anywhere. You don’t replace Paul Thistle, or go on at Howard Hospital without him, you can’t.

This statement from the Salvation Army is marketing smooth talk and diversion, nothing more. They either have no idea at the incompetence and corruption that is occurring at the administrative level at Howard Hospital, or don’t care.

I encourage Canadians, and caring citizens everywhere, to speak in number with your donations. Send them to reputable, professional and sincere international organizations. There are many to choose from, but the Salvation Army has shown from its handling of this matter, that they are not one of them. Demand answers as to where your money has gone. Ask why it has been stolen by members of the Salvation Army.

There are hundreds of us that have volunteered money and time to the people of Zimbabwe. We know the community and hospital well. There is nothing humanitarian, Christian or right about this entire matter.

DeeAnn LemireAugust 28, 2012 at 8:19 pm

Thank you to TSA Canada for posting this article. A bigger thanks for allowing folks to comment, express concern and share other details. Many folks have a deep respect and concern for the Thistles, their work at Howard Hospital and the folks that enter the facility for medical treatment.

Jennifer August 28, 2012 at 8:22 pm

Considering the leaders of the Salvation Army are part of a completely corrupt government system, how can the Salvation Army (at either the Canadian or International level) possibly sit back and allow such behaviour? Having witnessed Dr. Thistle’s work personally at Howard, he is truly the epitome of what the Salvation Army claims to represent – compassion, faith, healing of both the body and soul and complete selflessness. His concern is for the mother who is malnourished as she starves because she can barely feed her five children, or the orphaned two year old dying of AIDS – not the corrupt leaders who obviously want their hands in the pot of the hospital funds, unlike the international Sally Ann appears to be demonstrating. If they were truly concerned about the 270,000 people that Howard Hospital encompasses than their leaders would have been sent to Harare already to sort out this complete mess before Dr. Thistle and his family are sent home. And to suggest that Howard can run on anywhere close to the scale that it was running at under his leadership is absolutely ridiculous. As dedicated and proficient as the two remaining Zim doctors may be, I highly doubt that they will be making any international treks anytime soon to raise money so that Howard can continue to function at the level that it has been, nor will they show the same dedication to their faith and work as Dr. Thistle has over the last 16 years.

Shame on the leaders of The Salvation Army for allowing corruption and money to stand in the way of true faith and healing.

Marit Kalvo and Annlaug Teigene August 29, 2012 at 12:43 pm

We are shocked and do not understand that the Salvation Army has removed Dr. Thistle from Howard Hospital. A man that has dedicated his whole life to helping and treating sick and poor people. A man that worked hard in the hospital from early morning to late evening every day and spent most of his spare time getting sponsors and donations to Howard Hospital. Without him the hospital would not have had medicines and medical equipment for treating patients during the eighteen years he worked there.

Since 2002 we have been at Howard Hospital every year for short and long periods, working as voluntary anesthetists. We know well both the hospital, workers and the community. In addition to working at the hospital we organize a Norwegian aid program, helping more than 100 children and young people by paying their school fees.

During one of our stays at Howard Hospital we were surprised to learn that the Salvation Army does not contribute economically to Howard Hospital. Rather, the local Salvation Army drains money from the hospital. We have witnessed the administrators and other SA officers stealing from the hospital. We wrote a letter to International SA in London about this affair. Nothing was done. And now they have removed he who contributed and sacrificed.

It is good to hear that SA Canada is sending medical supplies. We hope they are necessary medicines and medical supplies, as a lot of not usable supplies are sent. We know that medical supplies are constantly in demand at Howard Hospital.

But who shall do the surgery when Dr. Thistle is no longer at the hospital? The two Zim doctors are not surgeons. They work at Out Patient and with medical treatment. Our last stay at Howard Hospital was in April/May this year. At the time there were between 10 and 15 operations a day, many complicated cases that only Dr. Thistle can operate. To carry out advanced surgery at a hospital like Howard, with so little medical equipment, requires a very experienced and skilled surgeon, like Paul Thistle.