The grand opening of Sanaag Specialty Hospital, located in Erigavo in the heart of Somaliland’s Frankincense resin harvesting region, was announced this week. The hospital, backed by doTERRA Healing Hands, will provide sustainable, quality healthcare for hundreds of thousands of people living in the remote African region.
“Prior to the opening of the Sanaag Specialty Hospital, people had to travel over 12 hours to reach medical help, if they could afford the journey at all,” said Dr. Russell Osguthorpe, doTERRA Chief Medical Officer. “Now, Sanaag provides a full-service hospital, pediatric care, pharmacy services and community outreach services, among other medical care. This first-class facility allows us to face the region’s high infant and child mortality rate. We have an amazing and dedicated medical team that is already seeing success and making an impact in the lives of Somalilanders.”
Included in the specialty hospital’s services is accident and emergency care, maternity and neonatal care, a surgical operating theater, pediatric care, in-patient and out-patient care, labs and radiology, and community outreach. The hospital currently employs more than 100 staff members, a chief medical officer, senior medical officer and doctors specializing in general and trauma surgery, obstetrics, gynecology, internal medicine and child and infant care. A support staff of trained lab technicians, anesthetists, radiologists, pharmacists and nurses is also onsite.
doTERRA’s Frankincense resins are sourced from Somaliland, Oman and Ethiopia, where approximately one-third of the nation’s population lives. The company works through its Co-Impact Sourcing program to create a traceable network of harvesters, collectors and sorters and works with more than a dozen tribal sub-clans within the region to create more than 7,000 employment opportunities while striving to hold to a fair and secure method of supply chain management.
“When doTERRA looks for sourcing partnerships, we deliberately choose locations where we can obtain the highest quality essential oils, while also focusing on improving the individual, social, economic, and environmental well-being of the people in surrounding communities,” said David Stirling, doTERRA founding executive and CEO. “The hospital has been a vision of ours for more than four years, and its completion represents the passion, determination, grit, and hard work of so many people and organizations. We can’t thank everyone enough for their contributions. Sanaag Speciality Hospital will be a powerful force for good in the lives of individuals and families living and working in the region for generations.”
