WASHINGTON, DC – The family of Thomas Eric Duncan announced that a memorial scholarship fund would be created in his honor to train Liberian health care professionals.
The announcement was made at a press conference on Monday morning at the Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas hospital in Dallas, Texas. The hospital is where Duncan, the first Ebola patient diagnosed on US soil, died.
His case brought the urgency of the Ebola outbreak to Americans, who had previously considered the outbreak to be something that only affected the African continent.
Texas Health Resources, which owns the hospital, also announced that it would be contributing US$125,000 toward the scholarship program.
SIM, a Christian mission organization that operates the ELWA hospital in Paynesville, will run the training program. The group aims to raise at least US$1 million before beginning to administer the program.
In an interview with The Bush Chicken, Josephus Weeks, Duncan’s nephew said the donation by Texas Health Resources was the third phase of a settlement that the hospital reached with Duncan’s family.
The first phase was the creation of a fund to take care of Duncan’s children and his parents. The second was a letter of apology from the head of the hospital.
Weeks said the scholarship program would have at least five recipients each year. The aspiring nurses, physician’s assistants, and doctors would be sent for training to countries like Nigeria and Cameroon before returning to work in Liberia.
The scholarship recipients would then start their residency at the ELWA hospital, under the direction of David Writebol, the husband of Ebola survivor Nancy Writebol.
In the future, Weeks says the foundation and SIM want to establish satellite clinics to provide modern healthcare to rural Liberians. “One doctor taking care of 77,000 people in Foya District? That’s unacceptable,” he said.
Notably absent from the announcement of the foundation was Louise Troh. Duncan had been visiting Troh when he was diagnosed with Ebola. Troh, who was romantically involved with Duncan, had not benefited from any of the settlements with the hospital. She is now releasing a memoir about her and has been featured in several US media outlets ahead of the book’s launch.
Featured photo: Hasteur
