CMMB Network Spotlight
In 2025, CMMB reached over 1.5 million people with access to healthcare and other life-changing services. Our reach is made possible thanks to a global community of partners who share our vision for a healthier world. We are proud to spotlight the work of two CMMB partners connected through our network: Access to Health Zambia (A2HealthZ) and the TRIMEDX Foundation. With funding and logistical support from CMMB’s Access to Medicines and Volunteer Programs, TRIMEDX Foundation deployed three volunteers to collaborate with Access to Health Zambia in leading a week-long training aimed at strengthening care delivery in Mwandi, Zambia.
A2HealthZ and TRIMEDX Foundation: Empowering rural healthcare and supporting a 140-year legacy at Mwandi Mission Hospital
By the TRIMEDX Foundation Team
In Zambia’s Western Province, along the shores of the Zambezi River and the edge of the Kalahari Desert, stands the Mwandi Mission Hospital. The 100-bed hospital began as a small pharmacy in 1884 and is the primary healthcare facility in the Mwandi District, serving more than 30,000 people. Despite geographic and socioeconomic challenges of the province, including severe drought and flooding cycles which result in routine crop failures, communicable disease outbreaks, and malnutrition, generations of healthcare providers have continued to serve the Western Province for over 140 years.
In October 2025, the Mwandi Mission Hospital welcomed three volunteers from the TRIMEDX Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to raising the standard of healthcare in underserved communities through medical equipment repair and facility maintenance.
Volunteer biomedical engineers Kevin Collazo, Monica Beccerra, and Tim Reitz worked alongside 13 Zambian engineers from the Western Province. Over the course of the week, the team worked together to service medical devices needed to support the region’s dental, imaging, laboratory, and surgical services.
TRIMEDX Foundation volunteers led breakout training sessions to build local biomedical capacity on devices, including anesthesia machines, ventilators, infant monitors, infant warmers, and more. The volunteers brought along much-needed resources to ensure hospital technicians were well-equipped to support ongoing maintenance of these lifesaving devices.
This week-long, bi-national medical equipment repair and capacity-building training effort was made possible through a partnership with Access to Health Zambia (A2HealthZ) and CMMB.
A2HealthZ is a local, non-governmental organization dedicated to improving Zambian women and children’s lives through community-specific health interventions. With their local expertise, volunteer partnership, and close coordination with CMMB, A2HealthZ was critical in connecting the TRIMEDX Foundation’s technical training and services to the unique needs of the Mwandi Mission Hospital.
Together, Mwandi Mission Hospital, TRIMEDX Foundation, and A2HealthZ, demonstrate how international partnerships can empower local healthcare workers through training and technical assistance to ensure lifesaving medical devices remain safe, reliable, and accessible. Every repaired medical device and trained technologist helps sustain Mwandi Mission Hospital’s legacy and ensures the hospital can continue to serve the Western Province for the next 140 years.