POWER RULES - PEOPLE SUFFER -1-

We have received a number of requests asking us to provide information relative to our posts this week focusing on the Howard Hospital, Zimbabwe, and the targeted defamation of Dr. Paul Thistle.

Jolinda Cooper, a former Salvation Army officer wrote a largely circulated paper detailing the actions that resulted in Dr. Thistle’s dismissal, subsequent to his almost 19 years of heralded sacrificial service as the Howard's only surgeon.

- In August 2012 Captain (Dr.) Paul Thistle returned to Zimbabwe following his ‘homeland furlough’ from his native Canada only to learn that he’s been dismissed and must leave the country within 48 hours. The HH staff and the many thousands who depend on Dr. Thistle’s surgical skills and spiritual leadership demonstrate against the SA. On Thistle’s forced departure suffering and death ensues… -

Sven Ljungholm

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Early/Mid September 2012 – Dr. Michael Silverman and 4 other members of IFHH ( Interfaith Friends of Howard Hospital) meet with leaders of The Salvation Army in Toronto. The Canadian leadership said that it wasn’t up to them (Canadian Salvation Army) but it was up to The Salvation Army IHQ. (London)

Early/Mid-September 2012 – Dr. Silverman flew to London to meet with Majors Dean and Eirwen Pallant. There were 2 meetings of 2.5 hours duration each. There was discussion about a possible grievance that would be the cause of removing Dr. Thistle from Howard Hospital but no direct answer was given to Silverman (in Silverman’s opinion) by the Pallants. However, one issue brought up was that Dr. Thistle didn’t communicate well with The Salvation Army.

Silverman felt that this “explanation” didn’t make sense, due to the fact that Howard Hospital doesn’t have reliable telephone or internet service. Additionally, Thistle’s primary responsibilities at Howard Hospital were as a physician and a surgeon, and not that of a hospital administrator. Silverman indicated that 95% of Thistle’s time was spent in his primary duties, and the administrative work that Thistle was doing was being done after hours because there was no one else to do it.

He pointed out to the Pallants that they could bring in an administrator to handle the business and communications needs of Howard Hospital instead of depending on Thistle to do it.

Silverman also indicated to the Pallants that they should let Thistle continue working at the hospital until such time as a replacement is brought in. He points out that there was no emergency back in Canada requiring Thistle’s presence.

The parties came to a three-part agreement as to what was to happen:

· _Dr. Thistle would get a furlough to stay in Zimbabwe until after the Salvation Army-supplied investigating team came and conducted a review. The team was to investigate the concerns that there were missing monies and materials

· _There would be a review to see if Thistle could be reinstated during this investigation. Thistle was supposed to be able to remain there until the completion of the trials of the nurses who were arrested during the protests in August.

· _A decision as to the reinstatement of Thistle in Zimbabwe at Howard Hospital would not be decided until after the review. This reinstatement would allow Thistle return as a physician and surgeon with the idea that a hospital administrator would be brought in to handle those duties and free up Thistle to do his medical work.

The Pallants agreed to these items in the agreement.

Silverman stated that the Pallants asked him to please not discuss the contents of the meeting, because they were finding it difficult and the media was pressuring The Salvation Army to act and they wanted to do their internal investigations. Silverman agreed to this request and didn’t say anything to any media sources, despite being asked.

The Pallants also stated they would speak with The Salvation Army Canada THQ. Shortly after this, Thistle began receiving communications from Canada THQ stating that the decision to remove him was final, that they agreed with IHQ that the decision was absolutely final and to not have any misunderstandings about the finality of the decision. He was given a date to leave Zimbabwe of October 5th. All of these messages occurred before the promised investigations were carried out.

Silverman was upset that the Salvation Army request of him to stay quiet and not speak to the media to forestall any prejudging the decision of the review and allowing them to finish their deliberations was misleading. He felt that The Salvation Army clearly finished their deliberations and were not going to wait for the review because

September 20, 2013 – Major (Dr.) Eirwen Pallant completed a clinical assessment of Howard Hospital and stated the hospital continued to be functional and served the people and more than 200 babies were born last month (August) and maternal and child health services were operating normally, that more than 4,000 outpatients had been treated in the past four weeks, there had been 1,756 inpatient beds nights and there had been more than 100 operations in the theatre.  (* see Dr. Silverman’s assertions below)

September 26, 2012 – Dr. Michael Silverman, as Chief Coordinator of IFHH, gave an interview to Alex Bell of SW Radio Africa. In this interview, Dr. Silverman made the following assertions (paraphrased):

· _Dr Thistle chooses to work at Howard Hospital because he cares and because of his Christian beliefs

· _Thistle would be better off financially if he left the Salvation Army and went back to Canada but he didn’t leave because he cares about the people of Zimbabwe

· _Thistle had no outside income and lived modestly, like the people of Zimbabwe

· _* The hospital is in crisis, running at 10%, maybe 20% at best, capacity. Before Thistle left, the hospital was often operating over-capacity

· _People aren’t coming to Howard Hospital because Thistle isn’t there

· _The Salvation Army told Dr. Silverman that someone was coming in December to replace Thistle  (early August 2013 – no replacement surgeon is in place)

· _The Salvation Army never told Silverman why Thistle was removed in such an “emergency” manner and long before they had anyone to replace Thistle

· _The Salvation Army emphasized that the person to replace Thistle will not perform surgery; that they were going to a “primary care” model of health care, despite the fact that surgeries have been done at Howard for years. Dr. Silverman stressed that primary care only would not help those who are found to have issues that require surgery (such as a woman who finds out via a routine pap test that she has cancer).

· _The cessation of the surgical care was not discussed with the surrounding community

· _People came from throughout Zimbabwe (and even from other countries, such as South Africa and Botswana) to Howard Hospital because the medical services were affordable. People were not, however, turned away if they couldn’t pay

· _The fees collected by Howard Hospital were used to subsidize the hospital. None of the money charged for services went to Thistle personally – all monies went into the hospital coffers

· _Generally, there are no surgeons in rural areas except for Dr. Thistle

· _Between the fees charged for surgeries and the outside donation funds, these monies were paying the salaries of the staff. Now that Thistle was gone, there is no money coming in from donors or surgeries, the staff salaries have been cut in half and the hospital will soon start having to lay off staff. The hospital economics are no longer viable without Thistle

· _Dr. Silverman called Howard Hospital a beacon. He compared how the Howard operated compared to other hospitals he had volunteered at in other parts of Africa and South America – he praised how well it ran despite the small amount of resources and the difficult situation of Zimbabwe. He stated that the Howard did an “amazing job” and the quality of care given at Howard “was extremely high”. This opinion was shared by many other doctor and surgeon volunteers

· _The Salvation Army told Dr. Silverman that the plan was to stop all surgical work at Howard Hospital – permanently

· _Silverman outlined the contents of 2 meetings in London with Salvation Army officials

· _Thistle may have been a whistleblower over missing monies  (and equipment)· _Silverman detailed the events of the meetings with the Pallants at Salvation Army IHQ in London (see previous event listing of early September). He stated that because of the actions of the Salvation Army, there was no longer any need for him to stay silent about the situation

· _Silverman felt the public needs to know what is going on because it has significant public health implications

· _The community surrounding Howard Hospital needed to know and have a say about what was happening with their health care

· _Alex Bell addressed the $250,000 grant that was returned. Silverman outlined the details around the obtaining of the grant, the Salvation Army’s stance on how the grant money would be handled and accounted for, and how the grant money was returned to the granting agency

· _The Salvation Army refused to have transparent accounting and refused to dedicate all the funds to an HIV program

October 5, 2012 – The date that the furlough granted to the Thistles by The Salvation Army ended. Canada THQ had ordered the Thistles to return by this date. This was the second attempt by the Army to get the Thistles to leave.

Thistle refused to leave Zimbabwe, despite several attempts to force him onto a plane. Although he left the hospital grounds within 24 hours of his dismissal, he remained with family in Harare. He told his mother that he would not leave Zimbabwe until he knew the fate of his nurses and the Army provided answers to the other vital questions: where was the money raised in Canada and where did the Army intend to place him? Until he had solid answers about his own future and the fate of his nurses, he stood resolute in his beliefs, determined to help and support the people of the land he grew to love.


Jolinda Cooper