William Rhodes, MD

Dr. Bill Rhodes and his wife, Laura, are on a mission 25 years in the making. Together, they seek to alleviate suffering in areas with limited medical access. Twenty-five years ago, the Rhodes family packed up their belongings and said goodbye to a potentially lucrative plastic surgery practice in Los Angeles. They journeyed to Kapsowar Hospital in Marakwet County, Kenya, where they raised their family and lived out their life mission—a mission placed on their hearts in the streets of Jerusalem.

Bill and Laura have invested in people, the hospital, and the region for a quarter of a century. Kapsowar Hospital has grown from a small regional care center to a professionally staffed, high-volume training facility. They both play a vital role at Kapsowar. “We are bonded in this,” Bill shares.

Today, the couple is expanding on the idea of serving more people in a greater area. To them, it is simply a matter of going where there is the most suffering and the least alleviation. Bill and Laura spend most of their time in remote places outside Kapsowar to serve in areas without clinics or healthcare facilities. They refer to such areas as “medical deserts.”

The Rhodes’s frequently travel to Chad, where living conditions are getting worse. They also provide care in higher-risk areas. It’s a matter of serving anyone they can reach. Their outreach to underserved communities provides hope for those who cannot travel to a hospital like Kapsowar. “There’s nothing we would rather do,” Laura says, describing their work. “We can bring a little bit of hope, a little bit of healing and encouragement in areas where all of those things are lacking.”