one generation.”
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July 2024Dr. Sofola was content to labor in the background, fulfilling his commitment to learn about building hospitals. Both men knew that they could accomplish more together than individually—just as in NBA basketball.
“In the NBA, you have Michael Jordan and LeBron James,” Dr. Sofola said. “Michael Jordan is Dr. Kofi. We recognize that if we support, rather than compete with Michael Jordan, with LeBron James, we’ll get farther. Maybe I’m the Dennis Rodman, the crazy one that grabs rebounds, the one doing the dirty work. Or I’m the one talking to the press and making everyone laugh. You find your role and do whatever you can to support each other. Then you will get your end result. We don’t compete with one another; we work together.”
Having trained at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., I am keenly aware of how a small group practice can evolve beyond one generation into a world-renowned medical center.” —Kofi Boahene, MD
WAISS opened in March 2024, slightly less than three years after its 2021 ground-breaking ceremony. But that milestone was the result of decades of dedicated effort.
“There’s an African saying, ‘If you want to build a mountain tomorrow, start gathering stones today,’” Dr. Boahene said. “We always knew that building a hospital is not an easy task. So ‘gathering stones today’ was first talking to people and trying to get them engaged.”
Through their professional networks and participation in medical mission trips. Drs. Boahene and Sofola recruited dozens of supportive physicians. They also learned much about the challenges of performing complicated surgeries in under-resourced areas.
“The more I got involved, the more I realized that it was going to be necessary to form a foundation to do what we wanted to do,” Dr. Boahene said, noting that most medical missions focus on simple surgeries, like cleft lip or palate repair. He and Dr. Sofola wanted to give people access to medically complex surgeries.
To support that goal, he created the Foundation for Special Surgery (FSS), a nonprofit humanitarian group that was officially registered in 2014. Dr. Sofola serves as trustee; Pamela Sofola, Dr. Sofola’s wife, a certified public accountant who previously worked for the World Bank, serves as director of development. Dr. Gassner and Dr. Brissett, Dr. Boahene’s former Mayo colleagues, also both serve on the board and have worked tirelessly to raise funds and obtain the necessary equipment. The team is packed with dedicated professionals who volunteer their time—including Dr. Boahene’s seven siblings.
From about 2013 until the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted international travel, the FSS conducted medical mission trips to Rwanda. During—and in between—these trips, physicians focused on building local competence as well.
“When we first started going to Rwanda, you could see the aftereffects of the civil war of preceding years. They didn’t have any infrastructure, barely any doctors left, any sophisticated surgeons,” Dr. Boahene said. “And from nothing, we helped with taking care of patients and training, to the point that now Rwanda really doesn’t need us there anymore.”
The success achieved in Rwanda offered clear evidence that their approach of supporting and educating local doctors could indeed meaningfully improve access to care in previously underserved areas.
“We demonstrated that we can actually transfer skills, elevate the level of competence of ancillary staff and surgeons,” Dr. Sofola said. “We also saw the local benefits of that improvement in care, which was a testament to the viability of our charge.”
Building a Hospital in Ghana
Dr. Boahene began searching for a suitable site for a hospital in the mid-2010s. The FSS team agreed that Ghana was the right place, so Dr. Boahene headed the search.
“I wanted to find a place where there was an existing hospital with a vision similar to ours—not just to take care of patients but to train also. I also wanted something that had a U.S. or European model of care,” he said.