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| Rick Sacra, center, was honored on Jan. 31 in New York with the 2018 Gerson L’Chaim Prize for Outstanding Medical Missionary Service by African Mission Healthcare. |
Ebola survivor Rick Sacra, MD, assistant professor of family medicine & community health, was honored on Jan. 31 in New York with the 2018 Gerson L’Chaim Prize for Outstanding Medical Missionary Service by African Mission Healthcare for dedicating his life to Christian missionary work in West Africa with SIM, an international Christian mission organization.
Nearly five years ago, Dr. Sacra contracted Ebola while delivering babies at ELWA Hospital in Liberia at the height of West Africa’s deadly epidemic. As soon as he recovered, he returned to Liberia to help patients and rebuild the country.
At a 2015 press conference at UMass Medical School, he told reporters, “We may be tempted to become complacent as the number of cases starts to decline in the coming months. But we must not rest until there are zero cases of Ebola, and we must not rest until the health system in West Africa is strong enough to contain the new outbreak, whether it be Ebola or some other threat.”
The award comes with a $500,000 prize, which Sacra and the ELWA hospital will use to train Liberian family medicine residents, install solar capacity and establish intensive care units with trained staff.
Learn more in the media coverage, below.
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Holden doctor who contracted Ebola in Liberia to receive $500,000 award
MassLive: Massachusetts doctor who survived Ebola virus to receive award for service in Liberia
MetroWest Daily News: Wayland: Missionary doctor to be honored for decades-long service in Africa
Related stories on UMassMedNow:
Ebola survivor Rick Sacra, MD, ‘privileged’ to return to Liberia to treat patients
UMMS statement on Dr. Richard Sacra
