Main Ward, Minh Quy Hospital, Kontum
                           Viet Nam c. 1974

Asia Connection Inc. was formed by a group of volunteers who had worked at Minh Quy Hospital, an institution serving the civilian population of the Central Highlands of Viet Nam during the war years.

Situated in Kontum Province, Minh Quy was founded by the late Dr. Pat Smith of Seattle, Washington. Her concern for the poor of the Highlands grew out of a year she spent volunteering at the Catholic leprosarium near Kontum. With support from the Catholic Church and sympathizers in Washington State, and with land donated by local villagers, Dr. Smith (Ya Tih, as she was known locally) opened Minh Quy Hospital in 1959.

 
 Dr. Pat Smith, late founder of Minh Quy Hospital,
Kontum Viet Nam c.1974

        Clinic at Minh Quy Hospital, Kontum,
                       Viet Nam c.1973

The majority of Minh Quy's patients belonged to the ethnic minorities commonly referred to as “Montagnards”; however, no patient of any ethnicity was ever turned away. Over the years thousands of people were treated. The brightest of the patients along with a group of sisters from the local convent were recruited to get on-the-job training and become full time staff members, providing sophisticated care despite a lack of formal education.




        Montagnard and Western Staff at Minh Quy

           Clinic at Minh Quy Hospital, Kontum, 
                            Viet Nam c.1973


       Ethnic Vietnamese patients at Minh Quy 
            Hospital, Kontum, Viet Nam c.1974





Despite the war, many volunteers were attracted to Minh Quy from America, Europe, and Asia. Ultimately the hospital grew to provide inpatient care to as many as 200 patients daily and outpatient care to another 75-150. Eventually clinics were held in the surrounding villages for innumerable others.

 Gone but not forgotten... 
Pat Smith,Ya Vincente, Louis Braile, Sister Marie Florence,
Sister Marie Madeleine, Marion Brown, Tom Coles.