Our Work
Our mission
We create opportunities to build relationships, transform lives, and inspire commitment to global mission by working hand in hand with Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh to share God's healing and hope-giving work.
Our Programs
Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh is a comprehensive care facility in southern Bangladesh in the village of Dumki with two major program areas: health care and community development.
Health Care
In 1995 LHCB established a medical facility in the southern village of Dumki with inpatient and outpatient departments. Mobile clinics bring health care to the surrounding villages. The hospital has grown to 44 inpatient beds, with a surgery suite, labor and delivery suite, pharmacy, and laboratory facilities. LHCB treats thousands of patients each year in the hospital, outpatient department and Mobile Clinics in the surrounding villages. In Bangladesh, 92% of mothers deliver at home. In 1996 to reduce the risks of complications during pregnancy and delivery, LHCB established a midwife training program for Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) to assist safe child birth. To date LHCB has trained over 300 TBAs who serve their own community people with confidence.
Community Development
The community development programs of LHCB focus on education. The LHCB staff provides training programs for general health education, gender awareness, and adolescent girls' health education at the hospital and in the surrounding communities. LHCB leads training programs for local farmers teaching better techniques for vegetable gardening, planting of trees, fishponds, poultry and livestock rearing. LHCB runs a Primary School on site with 50 students from the surrounding villages and children of the LHCB staff. The school focuses on English as a Second Language and is a morals based curriculum.
Our History
In 1992, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) commissioned a study by Dr. Roland Miller, Professor of Islamic Studies at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, with the purpose of Christian mission in the Muslim world community. Dr. Miller recommended establishing a presence in Bangladesh to meet the needs of poor women and children. In 1993 Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh was formed as a collaborative effort between the ElCA's Global Mission and a consortium of Lutheran churches under the leadership of Dr. Oliver "Bud" Peterson, President, and Mr. Warren Gerecke, Executive Director. ELCA missionaries Ed and Karen Scott, familiar with Bangladesh culture and business practices, were on site during the early years to supervise program work and construction. In 1995, the first patients of LHCB were seen in a rented house in the village of Dumki. A grant from Calvary Lutheran Church provided funds for construction of the Scott's home, and now visitors to Dumki are housed in Calvary House. In November of 1997 construction of the hospital/clinic complex was completed and its doors opened for patient care.
At the dedication of the new facility, Mark Jacobson, M.D., MPH, medical consultant for the ELCA/DGM remarked, “The LHCB project is a remarkable successful effort. The project has built the physical structures necessary to begin its services. It has recruited and trained a strong group of staff for administration, providing medical care, and community outreach. It is clearly focused on the welfare of women and children, and has a strong community development and education component. It is already well respected and supported by the local and national government. Truly, it is a fine example of creating space for dialogue and sharing with the Islamic community."
In 2001, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, provided a grant for the addition of a second story to the outpatient wing. The following year, Fairview Foundation of Minnesota funded construction of the Operating Room. A Women’s Waiting House was completed and dedicated in November 2003. Women with identified high risk pregnancies could now come to the hospital and await delivery under medical supervision.
In 2006, improvements were made to the hospital, the operating room and the laboratory including vital updating of the laboratory equipment. In June 2008, Samaritan House was completed and 11 staff families moved into their new homes. Onsite staff housing will allow LHCB to recruit, train and retain qualified and dedicated personnel, and benefit patients by having key medical staff onsite.
In May 2009, the second floor addition of the hospital with the male ward, private rooms, and Training Room was completed. The total number of hospital beds is now 44, almost double in size.