Tony Hiss’s new book, Long Road from Quito: Transforming Health Care in Rural Latin America, tells the fascinating story of David Gaus, Notre Dame Class of ’84, who has been working for decades to improve health care accessibility in impoverished communities. Gaus is co-founder, with his mentor Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., of Andean Health and Development (AHD), an organization dedicated to supporting health initiatives in South America. Their work has led to the construction of two top-of-the-line hospitals in Pedro Vicente Maldonado and Santo Domingo, Ecuador. The hospitals, staffed only by Ecuadorians, train local doctors through a Family Medicine residency program, and are financially self-sustaining. Gaus’s work with AHD is recognized as a model for the rest of Latin America, and AHD has grown into a major player in global health, frequently partnering with the World Health Organization and other international agencies.
Tony Hiss traces the trajectory of Gaus’s life from an accounting undergraduate at Notre Dame to a medical doctor committed to bringing modern medicine to rural communities in Ecuador. In his time at Notre Dame, Gaus developed a close friendship with then-university president Father Ted Hesburgh, who helped Gaus through medical school and beyond, eventually co-founding AHD. Father Hesburgh and the University’s commitment to service is embodied by Gaus’s influential healthcare project in Latin America.
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