The Top Ten Times Lacor Hospital Exemplified Humanitarianism
AUGUST 18, 2025
THE TOP TEN TIMES LACOR HOSPITAL EXEMPLIFIED HUMANITARIANISM
The staff of Lacor Hospital represents the true meaning of humanitarianism. For decades, they have faced war, epidemic, and hardship, and continue to serve the people of northern Uganda.
From the beginning, founders Dr. Piero Corti and Dr. Lucille Teasdale had one mission:
“To give the best care to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible cost.”
That mission has stood firm during the brutality of the Lord’s Resistance Army, during the deadly Ebola outbreak of 2000, and not now, as international funding cuts threaten access to HIV treatment.
This list highlights ten times when Lacor Hospital chose courage over fear, and for the sake of its people.
10. They Faced the First Wave of AIDS. Lacor played a crucial role in the early response to Uganda’s AIDS epidemic. It was one of the first government-designated sentinel sites for epidemiological surveillance, testing pregnant women at antenatal clinics. In the 1980s, victims of the mysterious “slim disease” (before it was known as HIV/AIDS) began to appear at Lacor. In 1985, Dr. Lucille Teasdale tested positive for HIV, which she contracted during surgery. Yet she continued treating patients, understanding the low risk of transmission, until she succumbed to the disease in 1996.
9. They Stayed Through the War. From 1980 through 2006, the Lord’s Resistance Army terrorized northern Uganda. Lacor Hospital remained open, even as rebels looted towns, abducted children, and threatened and kidnapped staff. When rebels came to seize the Hospital’s nurses, Dr. Matthew Lukwiya, the medical superintendent, offered himself. He took the risk to protect the Hospital so it would remain open for patients who had nowhere else to go.
8. They Became a Refuge. Between 1996 and 2006, up to 9,000 community members, later called “night commuters”, took shelter each evening inside Lacor’s compound to avoid abduction by rebels. Families would walk for hours to reach the safety of the Hospital, returning home at dawn, only to repeat the journey the next day.
7. They Grew Stronger Under Pressure. During the war years, Lacor tripled its capacity, caring for up to 500 outpatients daily. Patients included both Ugandan soldiers and rebel fighters, treated without discrimination.
6. They Recognized Ebola Before the World Did. In October 2000, when student nurses began dying mysteriously, Dr. Lukwiya spent the night studying WHO manuals and diagnosed Ebola days before outside experts arrived. By then, Lacor had already begun isolation procedures and contact tracing, actions that likely saved thousands of lives.
5. They Built an Ebola Ward from Scratch. With no protective supplies and no external help, Lacor’s staff improvised using bleach, handmade boot-removal tools, and homemade shields. When WHO experts arrived, they were astonished to find international protocols already in place.
4. They Stood by Their Patients. At the height of the Ebola outbreak, 70 patients crowded Lacor’s ward, cared for by only three doctors and ten nurses who volunteered to serve. Each often worked alone with up to ten critically ill patients—cleaning, feeding, and comforting them while fully aware of the danger. Dr. Matthew Lukwiya was among those infected. He died in December, the last Lacor healthcare worker to lose his life to Ebola.
3. They Served to the End. Burial teams in Gulu District during the Ebola outbreak included staff from Lacor Hospital alongside volunteers from the army, police, and local community. They were trained in safe burial practices and provided protective equipment. Because the virus could survive on the surface of bodies for more than seven days after death, burials were highly contagious and placed teams at great risk if protective measures were not followed with absolute precision.
2. They Gave the World the Tools to Fight Future Outbreaks. Thanks to Lacor’s leadership and early action, Uganda beat Ebola. But the Hospital went further—preserving blood samples, collaborating with the CDC and WHO, and laying the foundation for treatments and vaccines. Lacor’s work during Ebola is now part of global public health history.
1. They Refuse to Give Up. Today, more than 7,000 people rely on Lacor for HIV care. But due to recent cuts in USAID funding, patients now receive only 1 to 3 months of antiretrovirals, instead of six. Community health workers have been let go. Medication supplies are dwindling. Yet Lacor, as always, is doing everything it can, collaborating with nearby facilities, stretching limited stock, and caring for patients who would otherwise go without.