St Ritas Nurse Extending Care Beyond Hospital Walls

(LIMA; March 29, 2017) Tim Mosher is a nurse practitioner at St. Rita’s Health Partners in Lima, Ohio, but extends his care far beyond the hospital walls. On April 4, he will be boarding a flight to Mosul, Iraq. This is his second trip to Mosul this year.

Earlier this year he visited the country with Samaritan’s Purse to help open their emergency field hospital. This is a 50-bed trauma unit created to treat those injured in the battle between Iraqi and coalition forces and ISIS militants in Mosul. The hospital opened under the direction of Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse. The unit opened in January and Mosher was there for three weeks. One week was to aid in the setup of the trauma unit. The other two weeks were spent providing care to patients. He averaged 15 hours of work per day and treated 150 critically injured patients. “Providing care is part of who I am, and is part of my Christian faith. I sacrifice to serve those in greatest need,” Mosher said.

Based on Mosher’s giving nature it is easy for him to go back to help. For others, this decision is more difficult. The unit he will return to is surrounded by concrete blast walls. Those providing care are unable to leave the base as there is a safety risk.

“The more you do it the more you want to do it,” Mosher said. “I’m not interested in retiring and want to continue to help. I have been fortunate enough to travel with Samaritan’s Purse eight times.”

Since the official opening in January the medical team Mosher is a part of has treated more than 1,075 patients. Since the hospital’s opening in early January, over 475 major surgeries have been performed. Mosher will return to Mosul on April 4 to provide care to those who are brought to Samaritan Purse hospital, and function as the Medical Director until May 1. He will then return to Lima to continue providing care to those in our Lima community.