Karl Watts, M.D., is the founder and president of Genesis World Mission, a Boise, Idaho faith-based organization meeting the medical needs of underserved populations locally and internationally. He continues to volunteer as a physician at the clinic regularly and speaks on national and international health care issues.
HopeandHealing.org: How did you begin and was there a particular moment when you felt called to this ministry or to ministry in general?
Karl Watts: I believe God has had me on this path for some time, and I believe he has orchestrated it. If there was a turning point in my knowledge and ascent to this journey, it was back in med school when a group a students formed a Christian fellowship group. At that time I made a commitment to walk and serve this in action and in deed more than just in words alone. The other turning point was in my second year at the Medical College of Virginia when I was with the Christian Medical and Dental Society on a medical mission trip to Ecuador. I was working with a couple of plastic surgeons in a pretty run down, dilapidated government hospital in Babahoyo. I knew then I wanted to be involved and serve underserved populations.
HH: Can you outline how you got from med school to what you are doing now?
KW: I took a year off after my third year in medical school and did some field work in the Philippines with Youth with a Mission. After that, I chose to go into primary care – that is what is needed in care of undeserved populations. I moved to Idaho to complete my residency and eventually emerged with a vision for the mission organization. This organization is Genesis World Mission, and it is a faith-based organization that is mainly designed to meet the medical needs of underserved populations locally and internationally. I started to conceptualize the organization in 1997, and gathered many people around me to help with that. The organization was formalized in 2001, and it took off from there in terms of our local and international work.
HH: What do you see as God’s standard in healthcare? What would you see as a just healthcare system from a Christian point of view?
KW: From the Christian standpoint, my vision is that there is fair and equitable care for all populations. One verse I have latched onto recently is from 2 Corinthians 8:13-14 when Paul is talking to the Corinthian Church about offerings. The goal is not to overburden the Corinthian Church and provide for others that should not be provided for, but that there may be equality. Paul is calling for a voluntary mobilization of funds and social momentum that there may be equality across the board with all individuals and populations.
There is a huge gap between those who have and those who have not, those who access high quality healthcare and those who cannot access any at all. The church, unfortunately, in all the healthcare debate that is going around, has been noticeably silent, and that is quite disturbing to me.
HH: How would you see churches becoming more involved at this point?
KW: First, they have to acknowledge there is a problem. And churches have not done that yet. They have not acknowledged that our healthcare system is in crisis and needs some reform. That is one of the very first steps. All the evidence and data is out there that supports that.
Second, they need to come to recognize and realize the biblical view in this arena especially when it comes to the underserved populations. Scripture is clear about caring for the poor, the sick, the widows and the orphans. Acknowledging that is a huge step.
Third, what do you do to take action? That is the most difficult step because it means reengaging in an area that has become quite complex even for those who work in it. One way would be to locally access what the needs are in your community and look at partnering with others that are involved in the effort. A lot of those structures are already there. There is a lot of need that they can engage and assist people and organizations that are currently doing to work. Engagement is making a commitment and taking ownership. It is like the same thing they do with anything else they do. The building they operate out of needs continued support and commitment and management. The church needs to have continued management at that level in terms of social programs. Does that mean every church needs to be involved with healthcare? No. But if you had every church step up and make some partnership or commitment with some cause or some issue, we would see a huge transformation in the environment in this country.
HH: What happens if everyone in the United States receives healthcare coverage?
KW: First, it is a step in the right direction, but it is not the total answer that everyone will have health care coverage. What I predict will happen is if tomorrow you turned on health care coverage for everyone in this country it would exacerbate all of the other underlying problems with our healthcare systems. The problems are not just having coverage for everybody. One of the major problems we have is with the cost. We have seen examples with reforms in Washington State and in Massachusetts that getting coverage for everyone is a good thing, but it can exacerbate other problems. In Massachusetts, they had problems with costs and their budget. They have had a huge problem with primary care physician availability. They do not have the infrastructure in place in terms of primary care services in clinics to take care of all of their population. So work force and cost is an issue. That is an area people want to avoid. How do we control costs? How do we work more efficiently? Some efficiencies and transparencies have to be addressed if we want it to work well. We have to look at some of the ways offices, hospitals, insurance organizations, and pharmaceutical companies interact in a transparent and efficient manner and not just shifting patients from one place to another.
There has to be more significant insurance reform. I am a proponent that insurance needs to be disconnected from employment. Systems need to be implemented that insurance is individually purchased where the patient can again become the consumer and direct and manage their healthcare, make the decisions they need to be making and become much more cognizant of the cost of what they are purchasing. I think there are some very cost effective ways to do this. We need to move from the group premiums based rates to community based rates that can provide affordable heath care for everybody in the individual market.
HH: How do you see that affecting smaller faith-based clinics and the people doing this work?
KW: What it does to the current status of federally-funded clinics or faith-based clinics is it gives us the opportunity to transform. If every patient that comes into our office tomorrow has insurance, it gives us the opportunity to transform. I am very excited about that because I can demonstrate lower cost and lower overhead and more efficient ways of running and delivering and providing health care than a number of private and public clinics. That is the huge opportunity for us in the faith-based world to show a higher level of total patient care by looking at mental, physical and spiritual issues and to do things with a higher level of morality and ethics in all our choices in management of the patient and providing that higher level and perspective. Isn’t that what the church is supposed to do anyway? Isn’t that the role of the church not to get pinned under health care or politics or any other realm but to be above those areas and to be speaking ethics and truth and morality in whatever realm that we work? That is supposed to be the power of the church.
HH: Could you elaborate on the church’s power to address social justice issues?
KW: In terms of the social justice issues, health care in particular, the church has lost its voice and its power. The church has a choice in being involved. It is absolutely biblical that we are called and mandated to be involved in issues of social justice. There are numerous scriptures that say not just that we are supposed to take care of and meet the needs of the poor, which is charity, but to stand up for the cause of the poor, which is justice.
I am currently very uncomfortable continuing to do charity care for charity’s sake. We are taking care of people and meeting their needs, but are we truly standing up for their cause? This means saying that it is wrong that this type of environment exists and lending our voice to changing the structure and environment that does exist. To do that means that there is fair and equitable healthcare.
HH: How does sacrifice from a Christian perspective play into your view of health care reform?
KW: It means that we have to change the way we use our resources. You and I have sat through many a sermon and messages from the pulpit on tithing and offerings. Scripture shows that tithe is holy unto the Lord. Tithe is supposed to be given first out of your abundance, and God will meet your needs if there is lack. However, how many messages have you heard on what the church is to do with the tithe? I cannot recall any. If from each individual Christian standpoint the tithe is holy unto God, then the collective tithe is even more holy. And what the church decides to do with that is even more holy. The church spends so much of its resources on buildings and salaries and the care and nurturing of us Christians but spends so little outside its realm in terms of care and love of needy populations. That is going to be one of the biggest indictments against the church structure. I don’t think it is a sacrifice at all to give up our comforts inside the church and provide more comfort and justice outside the church. It’s a simple redistribution of those resources.
HH: Would you say that applies on an individual standpoint? That that is the way an individual could look at some of the proposed changes to the system?
KW: From the aspect of the individual Christian, sacrifice means first lending voice and being involved in these issues and if possible financial support for it. Currently, the structure is that the financial support comes out our taxes. The vast majority of the care of the underserved population comes from federal and state governments. It comes from the government because the church wasn’t doing, in my eyes, a total job. This is why these entities got involved and when these entities got more involved the church backed away from its involvement. The church needs to reengage in this area it has left. Reengagement means that when you look at church budgets that less goes to building and facilities and programs and more goes to outreach and missional efforts. A shift like that will require some big sacrifice.
A version of this interview first ran in Christian Community Health Fellowship’s Health and Development, Winter 2010. Dr. Watts will speak at Christian Community Health Fellowship's upcoming conference.
Christian Sacrifice and Health Care Reform: Q&A with Karl Watts
