Organisation spotlight: ReachAnother Foundation
In April, InterSurgeon had the pleasure of speaking with ReachAnother Foundation. Co-founder and President, Patricia O’Neill, told us about all things ReachAnother and why now is the time to come to InterSurgeon.
ReachAnother Foundation beginnings
The ReachAnother Foundation was established in 2009, after Dr Marinus “Dick” Koning retired from his surgical practice in Bend Oregon and started his global surgery journey. Dr Koning met a professor from Ethiopia whilst travelling and decided to return with Medical Teams International on a surgical mission. “Shortly after his arrival, Dr. Koning noticed the common occurrence of mothers seeking care for their babies born with neural tube birth defects, primarily hydrocephalus (known as “water on the brain”) and spina bifida (known as “open back”). With only one neurosurgeon to serve the entire population of Ethiopia, most babies were put on a waiting list or sent away. Without surgery, many of these children died. There was a clear need to help these forgotten children and their families1.” The idea for ReachAnother Foundation US was born, with ReachAnother Foundation Nederland being established in 2013 by Dr Koning’s twin brother, Dr Jan Koning, a vascular surgeon in Delft, Netherlands.
Making an impact in Ethiopia
The ReachAnother Foundation specifically focuses on preventing and treating neural tube defects in Ethiopia. They have a 3-pronged approach. Starting with prevention, the foundation supports provision of community education from parent handbooks (963 distributed in 2024 alone) to group education and national advocacy for fortification of everyday food items. They assist treatment efforts by supplying equipment and training of Ethiopian surgical staff in shunts and in ETV/CPC techniques. Finally, they help hospitals to build and sustain aftercare. In 2024, they helped 9324 visits to follow up clinics.
In 2024
Patricia shared with InterSurgeon some of the fantastic impact they have made in the last twelve months; this includes the building and establishment of the Paediatric Neurosurgery Centre at the Zewditu Memorial Hospital in Addis Ababa – the first of its kind to be established in Ethiopia. This groundbreaking facility is to; “shape the future of paediatric neurosurgery in Ethiopia by training the next generation of professionals and enabling complex paediatric cases to be treated in-country.” This was completed in early 2025 with the installation of equipment and final inspections. Country director of Ethiopia, Yakob Ahmed, says; “In Ethiopia, the impact of this work is everywhere. I see it in a mother who finally has hope, in a child taking their first steps after surgery, in a hospital that once struggled but can now help more families. I see it in doctors and nurses gaining new skills, ready to save lives. This is why we keep going and why what we do matters.”
ReachAnother Foundation and InterSurgeon
After hearing about InterSurgeon from the G4 Alliance (InterSurgeon partners), ReachAnother Foundation registered on the site; “ReachAnother became an official member in February, 2020, just before everything shut down, so our hope of connecting people who would be interested in our projects was put on hold until 2022. Unfortunately, Dick was diagnosed with a brain tumour, so we delayed any outreach until after his passing.” Now InterSurgeon is delighted to support ReachAnother and the Ethiopian surgical professionals it works with to start their global surgical partnerships that will advance clinical care, teaching, training, research and the provision and maintenance of medical equipment.
And next
Having opened their first of eight Centres of Excellence (COEs) across Ethiopia, they are focussing on two main goals;“Firstly we plan to enrich the network of COEs, as a sort of hub and spoke concept, so that Zewditu’s Pediatric Neurosurgical Center will be the hub, with training and referrals there, but strengthening each of the other COEs as well. Secondly, we want to help to establish an Ethiopian Pediatric Neurosurgical program. There are now over 100 neurosurgeons in Ethiopia, but not yet a pediatric neurosurgical training program. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education have agreed to the proposal to establish such a sub-specialty training program if there are 3 internationally accredited Ethiopian pediatric neurosurgeons who could be the basis for such a training program.” They have been actively discussing this topic at the International Society of Paediatric Neurosurgeons and are developing a “hybrid concept” which involves supporting Ethiopian neurosurgeons travelling between Ethiopia and centres in the USA or Europe to support their professional development and training with mentors from USA and Europe.
Finally, Patricia says: “In addition to this project, we believe Ethiopia needs medical professionals to come to mentor people in surgery, anesthesia, urology, and bioengineering.”
For ReachAnother’s profile, click here.
- https://reachanother.org/about-us/our-story/ (accessed Tuesday 29th April)
