YUMA, Ariz. – Compassus recently sent a team of 12 volunteers, including Ronald Brooksher, M.D., of Yuma, to assist Living Hope, the company’s sister hospice program in Cape Town, South Africa. The Compassus interdisciplinary team, which included physicians, registered nurses, a hospice aide, social worker, bereavement coordinator, chaplain and corporate colleague, spent a week in Cape Town working side-by-side with Living Hope clinicians.
“South Africa is a land of beauty and contrast. While many people there live well, like much of Europe, others live in poverty,” said Dr. Brooksher, medical director of Compassus – Yuma. “The highest rates of tuberculosis and AIDS in the world are in South Africa. Living Hope and Compassus are in the trenches, delivering care and trying to raise these individuals out of poverty.”
Through a partnership started in 2011, Compassus donates monetary aid, medical supplies and health care expertise to support Living Hope’s health care and hospice services in the impoverished township communities of Cape Town. Compassus matches voluntary employee donations to the dollar and last year raised more than $73,000 for the ministry-based nonprofit.
Living Hope offers health care services, counseling and education to more than 200,000 underprivileged residents in Cape Town. Its programs focus on improving general health and hospice care, HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, and economic empowerment. Living Hope provides health care for more than 36,000 South Africans annually through in-home visits, medical clinics and a 22-bed inpatient hospice center.
“Compassus has a calling to deliver compassionate care not only in our local communities but around the world. Serving alongside Living Hope allows us the opportunity to live out this higher purpose,” said Patricia Davis-Owens, executive director for Compassus – Yuma. “We are so proud Dr. Brooksher was part of this team and proud of their work for the people of South Africa. I hope it inspires others to join the effort to advance the well-being of those facing life-limiting illnesses.”
For more information, visit the Compassus Yuma location page or call (928) 344-6100.
