Mercy Medical Missions, Nigeria
During the summer of 2010, The Mercy Foundation formally merged its healthcare outreach and education programs in Uromi, Nigeria with Timmy Global Health, making Mercy Medical Missions, Nigeria Timmy’s sixth international outreach program.
The Mercy Foundation was founded in 2001 by Mercy Obeime, MD, a local family practice physician in Indianapolis. The idea was conceived in June, 2001 when Dr. Obeime visited one of her medical school professors in Nigeria. A man brought in his very ill wife, but could not pay the money needed for registration at the hospital. Through a brief conversation, Dr. Obeime discovered that the man’s wife had been ill for several days and was dehydrated. The husband had taken her to a nearby clinic where he was given a list of things to buy, including intravenous fluid and the supplies to administer the IV. The man reported that he had spent the entire day in search of a loan so he could treat his wife, but was unsuccessful. He found his wife gasping when he returned and decided to transfer her knowing it would be more expensive. Dr. Obeime offered to help pay for the treatment.
Unfortunately, Dr. Obeime’s help came too late and the patient passed away just minutes later. The experience haunted Dr. Obeime throughout her stay in Nigeria and when she landed back in Indianapolis she decided to do something to reduce premature deaths like that of the woman she cared for.
As a practitioner in Indianapolis, Dr. Obeime has extensive experience working with patients struggling with overweight and obesity. Over the years, she has found that patients who engage in programs designed to teach lifestyle modification have the best chance of improving their lives and health outcomes. Identifying similar needs through her outreach in Uromi, Nigeria, The Mercy Foundation began a similar clinic and education program targeted at patients struggling with overweight, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension to teach them how to best control and improve their health.
Dr. Obeime and The Mercy Foundation will bring to Timmy first-hand knowledge and extensive experience working to address healthcare challenges in Africa. At the same time, with its administrative support, relationships with student chapters, and physical infrastructure, Timmy will help expand the new Mercy Medical Missions, Nigeria programming, as well as search for other opportunities for medical and health outreach in Africa.
An article about the recent merger can be found at IBJ.com.
