At SpecialtyCare, supporting our clinicians’ commitment to serve others beyond borders is at the heart of what we do. In May, one of our own participated in a life-changing mission trip to Nigeria through the VOOM Foundation, thanks in part to funding from the AmSECT Mission Trip Scholarship, proudly supported by SpecialtyCare.

This trip marked Kyra Grathwhol’s (Perfusionist IV) first medical mission—and it was anything but ordinary.

A Hospital in the Heart of Need

Located in a remote and unsettled area of Nigeria, the Dame Irene Okwuosa Memorial Hospital is the VOOM Foundation’s main site for cardiac mission work. With limited access to resources and infrastructure, the hospital operates in a way that requires grit, flexibility, and community-driven collaboration. Communication is handled almost entirely through WhatsApp, where calls for supplies, blood, and equipment circulate rapidly in real-time.

The VOOM Foundation, led medically by Dr. Jeff McNeil of Texas, is committed to transforming cardiac care in Nigeria through education, patient care, and infrastructure development. Every donation—whether capital equipment, disposables, or funding—makes a direct impact. Boxes of supplies are shipped to volunteers in the U.S. and flown in as checked luggage, then stored in a modest warehouse across the street from the hospital.

Resourcefulness on the Front Lines

Working in these conditions requires innovative problem-solving. Kyra and her peers used a Sorin S3 heart-lung machine, despite VOOM’s ongoing efforts to obtain newer S5 models. Supplies were sparse—only a few oxygenators, no cell saver, and missing accessories like proper holders for some oxygenators (bungee cords if needed).

Hemoconcentrators? They improvised using dialyzers.

Despite these challenges, the team pushed forward—rising each day at 6 a.m. and often working past midnight. Operating room turnover was long, surgical complexity was high, and everything ran on what the team fondly called “Nigerian time.”

Empowering Local Healthcare Providers

Education was a central goal. Each cardiac specialty—surgery, cath lab, ICU, pre-op, and perfusion—was represented and embedded with local trainees. The perfusion team alone trained three Nigerian professionals with little to no prior exposure to the field. By the end of the week, they could set up a bypass machine and know the complex components, interpret point-of-care testing, and understand the fundamentals of cardiac surgery.

The Human Element

In total, the 3 week mission performed:

· 33 open-heart surgeries (6 pediatric)

· 12 pediatric cath lab procedures

· 3 pacemaker implants

· 32 eye surgeries

· 2,455 family medicine visits

Kyra personally pumped 6 open-heart cases during her 10 day commitment —most of them valve procedures—and quickly noticed distinct physiological differences in patients: average potassium levels <3, hemoglobin levels >15, and virtually no obesity. Due to a life expectancy of just 55 years, few patients live long enough to develop coronary artery disease, altering the typical case mix compared to the U.S.

Blood donation was as grassroots as it gets: when a patient needed a transfusion, a call would go out via WhatsApp, and volunteers would walk across the street to donate whole blood—delivered by hand for immediate use.

A Journey of Purpose

This mission was the hardest experience of Kyra’s professional life. The emotional toll of caring for critically ill patients without the tools we often take for granted was heavy. Not every patient could be saved. But the shared energy, the devotion of the volunteers, and the transformation witnessed in both patients and trainees left an indelible mark.

As she said best: “At times, it all felt so defeating… But, as my daughter-in-law says to me, ‘Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good.’ That rings in my heart, and I know we did good.”

At SpecialtyCare, we are humbled and proud to support clinicians who take their skills to the front lines of need—teaching, healing, and building systems of care where none existed before. Thank you to the VOOM Foundation for their incredible mission and to our clinician for their courage, compassion, and commitment.

To learn more about the VOOM Foundation and how to support their work, visit voomfoundation.org.

Interested in applying for SpecialtyCare’s mission trip support or learning more about our global outreach efforts? Contact us to get involved.