Richard M. Hodes, M.D., an American internist who has lived and worked in Ethiopia for over 35 years, has been honored with the Walter P. Blount Humanitarian Award by the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS).
The Walter P. Blount Award is given to an individual who has provided outstanding service for those with spinal deformities, through their generous actions out of a sense of service to larger social and professional goals.
An internist who never did an orthopedics or neurosurgery rotation and had no interest in spine, Dr. Hodes met two abandoned orphans in 1999 at Mother Teresa’s Mission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Dr. Hodes adopted the boys, who had severe Pott’s Disease, and brought them to the U.S. for surgery.
Seven years later Dr. Hodes opened a spine practice in 2006 Ethiopia, partnering with Dr. Oheneba Boachie-Adjei and the Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spine (FOCOS). Last year Dr. Hodes and the team he assembled, treated more than 500 new deformity patients—many of whom travel by bus for days to reach his spine clinic.
Dr. Hodes’s and his work is the subject of the HBO documentary “Making the Crooked Straight,” as well as the book “This is a Soul: The Mission of Rick Hodes” by Marilyn Berger.
“The Walter P. Blount Humanitarian Award is a huge honor,” said Dr. Hodes to OTW. “I had no plans to become a spine doctor—I am an internist. But as I saw more and more spine deformity patients, I got really interested, and really wanted to help them. To receive this honor is a great recognition of my efforts, and a sign that we have succeeded in putting Ethiopian spine deformities on the global map.”
Researching Some of the Rarest Diseases in the World
“We have been able to do research on some of the rarest diseases in the world. In a short answer it is practicing scientific medicine with little support. We have done genetic sequencing of rare diseases: an FSHMD (facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy) patient, (not known to occur in black patients), sequencing a rare variant of FOP (fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive) a condition in which a patient develops a second skeleton, and recently a spine patient with congenital lipomatous overgrowth, vascular malformations, epidermal nevis, spinal/skeletal anomalies/scoliosis (CLOVES—fewer than 200 cases in the world).”
“I even flew to India and purchased the cancer drug Piqray (alpelisib) which genetically treats the PIK3CA mutation and that patient is getting better. FYI, the drug costs $414/tablet while I was able to purchase it for $15/tablet.”
OTW asked Dr. Hode about the logistical challenges to serving patients in such remote areas. “Oh my God, challenges everywhere. I work in an unventilated room of a city hospital which has no water. We have to bring in medicine, import spine surgeons, and import instruments. All this has to be meticulously planned and cleared with the local health authorities,” explained Dr. Hode.
“In order for our partners at the Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spine to fly in with an electromagnet to lengthen magnetic growing rods, it takes three days and multiple trips to the Ministry of Health. To send a patient to our partner hospitals at the Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spine (Ghana) or Ganga (India) has multiple hurdles. Just getting a passport can be a challenge. Many Ethiopians have no birth certificates, so they may get their first birth certificate at age 20—then we may have to wait months to get a passport. Obtaining visas can be challenging, and at times the patient may not be able to reach us from their home 200 miles away because of civil unrest. I’m always fundraising to keep us going.”
Texas Back Institute, Stanford University, and OrthoArizona Pitch In
“Earlier this year, we had Dr. Ted Bellanger (Texas Back Institute), Dr. Serena Hu (Stanford University), Dr. Bill Stevens (OrthoArizona), and others come for three weeks to operate on 50 patients. I started by secluding myself for a week and sending Dr. Bellanger emails with histories, photos, and X-rays of about 140 patients. Each email had 20-30 images. He chose 75 to work up.”
“My team did new X-rays, blood tests, ultrasounds (cardiac and abdominal), some CTs and MRIs. There is a very high rate of spinal cord abnormalities in Ethiopian spine deformity patients, and we see diastomatomyelia almost every day. We found many with diasto and syrinx, which our neurosurgeon operated on; some had hepatitis B or C which needed addressing.”
“We have had true HIV and false-positive HIV tests, which we have to sort out. Some patients are found to have congenital cardiac defects as well.”
“It’s all worth it—in three weeks they performed 50 surgeries and taught our Ethiopian orthopedic and neurosurgeons how to operate. And because I am an internist, I can follow the medical issues myself.”
1,500 Surgeries in 5 Countries
“We have done over 1,500 surgeries in five countries. Patients have gone on to graduate from nursing school, medical school, marry and have children. One boy with a terrible scoliosis who clearly would not have lived for a decade recently graduated as valedictorian and gold medal winner of Mekele University. I sent his photos to Dr. Ferran Pellise of Barcelona who was his chief surgeon. He sent me back photos he had taken in 2011, and was thrilled to see his progress.”
Dr. Hode’s Two Adopted Sons
In 1999, Dr. Hode was presented with two abandoned orphans who were diagnosed with tuberculosis of the spine. Without treatment, they would both be paralyzed. To save them, Dr. Hode adopted the boys and brought them to America for treatment. Here’s the rest of the story.
“My son Semegn recently graduated from pharmacy school in Atlanta and works at a U.S. government hospital. My son Dejene studied electrical engineering and now has a YouTube channel (Dejene Ethiopia Tours) and a travel and art business in Ethiopia. Early in his course, he could only walk at a triangle, with his hands on his thighs.”
Dr. Hode, who didn’t plan on a career treating musculoskeletal disease and thought he would spend his work life as an internist has grown to understand the basics of orthopedics and neurosurgery.
“I am able to be the centerpiece and transform the lives of a lot of youths. It is exciting and humbling. At least once a day I am overwhelmed by the volume and the severity of what I see—one doctor said that we have the largest collection of the worst spine deformities in the world.”
“On one hand it is extremely gratifying to change the lives of these patients. It is also difficult to be confronted by hundreds of new deformities every year, and know that we can only help a small group of them due to financial constraints.”
Supporting Dr. Hode’s Unique and Magnificent Vision
“I started our spine practice as the JDC Spine Program in 2006. That year we got 20 new spine patients and did 11 surgeries in Ghana, operated by Dr. Oheneba Boachie-Adjei and his team.”
“As things progressed, Dr. Boachie-Adjei constructed FOCOS [Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spine] Hospital and we were able to do halo-gravity traction up to seven months, which partially corrects severe deformities and makes surgery easier and safer.”
“Now we have just had an Ethiopian orthopedist do a 1-year fellowship at Ganga Hospital and is ready to take on simple cases himself. So we are building local capacity, and our goal is to have a spine center in Addis Ababa to operate on patients with deformities, degenerative disease, and trauma. Anyone interested is welcome to contact me.”
“My patients have dignity and faith and courage. They are often living with life-threatening deformities and depend on my team and I to intervene. On a good day, we can help.”
To support Dr. Hodes’s work with both financial and surgical resources, contact FOCUS.
