JDC Doctor Named to Medical Mission Hall of Fame

Dr. Rick Hodes honored for his decades of medical service and relief work in developing world

New York---The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee is proud to announce that Dr. Rick Hodes, JDC's medical director for Ethiopia, will be inducted into the Medical Missions Hall of Fame, based in Toledo, Ohio.

For more than two decades Dr. Hodes has practiced medicine in the developing world, overseeing medical operations for humanitarian relief efforts in Sudan, Rwanda, Zaire, Turkey and Albania. But the thrust of his life's work has been treating disease and providing medical services for the Jewish population in Ethiopia, and he has been instrumental in bringing several children with rare skeletal deformities to the United States for corrective surgery.

"Rick Hodes represents JDC at its very finest," said JDC's executive vice president, Steven Schwager. "He has sacrificed the material comforts and security that easily could have been his had he decided to practice medicine in the United States. Instead he has opted for the more adventurous path. JDC and the people he treats are much better off for his selfless dedication to 'tikkun olam'."

Currently, Dr. Hodes oversees all medical services for more than 12,000 Ethiopians who are preparing to emigrate to Israel. He operates two clinics, one in Addis Ababa and the other in Gondar. He also runs a supplementary food program; a nutrition, family planning and health maintenance education program; a prenatal care center; and a treatment center for tuberculosis.

"It is a great honor to be recognized by this wonderful group for my work in Ethiopia," Dr. Hodes said.

The Medical Mission Hall of Fame Foundation established the hall to honor people who make a difference in the health of human beings. The Medical Mission Hall of Fame, a nonprofit organization, has no physical location or structure. It is operated in conjunction with the Diller Foundation, a nonprofit organization established in honor of Dr. James Diller of Toledo.