Wilderness Medical Society

Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital Project

This project is a result of a commitment to a long-standing vision by Wongchhu Sherpa, who has taken his Everest summits and business successes to give back to his boyhood village by developing roads, water projects, and a school. When asked what he further wished to accomplish, he stated that he wishes to bring better access and quality of healthcare to his local village and lower Solukhumbu region. This project is derived from that wish.

Two organizations currently spearhead this project. Wongchhu Peak Promotion (Lakpa Sherpa, managing director) is coordinating the local and national efforts in Nepal. From the USA, HRA-USA (Everest ER), led by Drs. Luanne Freer and Eric Johnson are joined by Dr. Paul Auerbach from Stanford University to work on project planning, international coordination, and fund-raising. Via the Nepal Ambulance Service, Dr. Auerbach has preliminary offers of assistance from principals in the Nepal construction industry and medical system.

SLIDESHOW

The Wilderness Medical Society will serve as the US based nonprofit coordinating finances and organization. The steering committee for this meaningful project is comprised of:

	Lakpa Sherpa Managing director, Wongchhu Peak Promotion;
	Luanne Freer, MD, FACEP, FAWM Past President, Wilderness Medical Society; Medical Director, Yellowstone National Park; Founder/Director, Everest ER, Nepal.
	Eric Johnson, MD, FAWM Past-President, Wilderness Medical Society; Medical Director, Teton Co. Fire; Medical Director, Wound Healing & Hyperbaric Medicine, Deaconess Health, Bozeman, MT.; Medical Consultant, Global Rescue, LLC; Frequent volunteer for the Himalayan Rescue Association clinics and Everest ER. NAUI instructor #22649 (ret)
	Paul Auerbach, MD, MS, FACEP, FAWM Redlich Family Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Auerbach is one of the world’s leading authorities on wilderness medicine and emergency medicine and editor of the definitive medical textbook Wilderness Medicine. He also authors Medicine for the Outdoors and Field Guide to Wilderness Medicine. He is a founder and past President of the Wilderness Medical Society, and founding editor emeritus of Wilderness and Environmental Medicine.