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Medical Teams International

Medical Teams International (formerly Northwest Medical Teams) is a non-profit humanitarian aid and development organization. As of 2007, Medical Teams International has deployed more than 1,500 volunteer teams and shipped more than $1 billion in antibiotics, surgical kits and lifesaving medicines to care for 35 million people in 70 countries.

Medical Teams Mission

The mission of this non-governmental organization (NGO) is "to demonstrate the love of Christ to people affected by disaster, conflict and poverty." They provide humanitarian aid to people in need regardless of a person’s religious background, affiliation or experience.

Aid recipients are not asked to participate in faith-based activities in order to receive medical care or supplies. Volunteers of various faiths are welcome as long as they can support the mission of Medical Teams International.

Medical Teams History

An Oregon businessman, Ron Post, founded Northwest Medical Teams (now Medical Teams International) in 1979, in response to reports of thousands of Cambodian refugees escaping the killing fields. Twenty-eight medical volunteers joined the first team to Thailand to care for survivors of the Khmer Rouge.

This work has now expanded beyond their International Headquarters and Distribution Center in Portland, Oregon to include an office in Seattle, Washington and field offices in New Orleans, Louisiana; Moss Point, Mississippi; Mexico, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Uganda, Liberia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Medical Teams Programs

From Medical Teams International’s Web site:

“We implement and support programs that address the causes and effects of inadequate health care. Our initiatives include training and education to build the skill and capacity of our partners, volunteers, staff and those we serve in order to produce sustainable change.

“We address the health and wellness of the whole person—a physical, social, mental and spiritual being living in relationship with God, other people and the whole of creation. We serve everyone in need, regardless of race, creed or gender, conducting ourselves with sensitivity and respect when working with people of other faiths.”

Their programs include:

Medical services & training
Community health & development
Mobile Dental clinics in USA’s Pacific Northwest
HIV and AIDS education and training
Emergency Medical Services
Children’s ministry
Humanitarian aid
Disaster response

Medical Teams Volunteers

Medical professionals from around the world volunteer on teams that address needs ranging from training midwives in Honduras, to providing mobile medical clinics in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Uganda, to forming Emergency Medical Service (EMS) programs in Moldova.

Finances

Medical Teams International is non-profit, supported by the donations of individuals, corporations, medical institutions and churches. Every $30 helps send $3,900-worth of humanitarian aid and supplies to people in need. More than 97 percent of all donations goes to their programs and services.

Donations also include medicines and medical supplies given by institutions, companies and individuals for hospitals and clinics in more than 70 countries each year. These donations include bandages, medicines, sterilizers, medical instruments and surgical equipment. Shipments of these supplies have equipped and modernized surgical units and clinics and improved medical workers’ ability to care for patients.

Forbes magazine picked Medical Teams International for its most recent (2003) “Gold Star Top 10” list.
MinistryWatch gave Medical Teams International its 5-Star designation and ranked it 7th among all 447 faith-based nonprofits in the USA.
In 2006, Charity Navigator, the largest evaluator of charitable organizations in the U.S., awarded its highest rating (4-Star) to Medical Teams International for the fourth year in a row.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy listed Medical Teams International as 138 in a recent annual list of Top 400 Nonprofit Rankings.