Connected by purpose, united in person: The story of Dr. Schwartzkopf and Dr. Weldon

Dr. Schwartzkopf (right) and Dr. Weldon (left) meet in person in Kenya.

For years, Dr. Eric Schwartzkopf and Dr. Weldon Kirui have worked together through World Telehealth Initiative (WTI), bridging thousands of miles to improve healthcare in rural Kenya. Dr. Schwartzkopf, based in Washington, has provided remote lectures to support Longisa County Referral Hospital, where Dr. Kirui serves as Superintendent and general practitioner.

In early 2025, Dr. Schwartzkopf traveled to Kenya and met Dr. Kirui face-to-face for the first time. What began as a professional partnership through screens became a meaningful, personal connection. Dr. Schwartzkopf reflected: “Meeting in person was a whole different experience… He shared with us about his childhood and his family and the struggles with medicine in Kenya. He was able to really give us a lot more depth to understanding who he is and where he's come from and how he's got such amazing zeal and enthusiasm for bringing improvement in healthcare to his community.”

Dr. Kirui grew up in a small village in Kenya’s Southern Rift Valley, where access to medical care was almost nonexistent. “There was no healthcare provider nearby,” he explains. They only had an herbalist who came by to give them herbal medicines and perform clandestine deliveries in the villages, which often led to unnecessary deaths. This reflects a wider issue in Kenya, where there are just 0.157 physicians per 1,000 people, far below the WHO’s recommended ratio.

Driven to make a difference, Dr. Kirui studied medicine at Dartmouth College and the University of Nairobi. Today, he is dedicated to serving patients in his rural community of Longisa. “I really wanted to see health issues, and also economic lifestyles being improved, especially from the village where I came from…Here we have what we call triple tragedy: the non-communicable diseases, the communicable diseases, plus the poverty is still widespread….This community will otherwise not have this opportunity to see health in an improved manner, such as provided by WTI through these Teladoc machines… I see the dream I had happening. I see it coming to fruition...”

Longisa County Referral Hospital serves over half a million people but faces a shortage of specialists. Through WTI, local clinicians connect with global medical specialists who provide bedside support, training, and education in fields like Critical Care, Oncology, and Cardiology.

Dr. Schwartzkopf’s remote lectures focus on practical internal medicine tailored to Longisa’s resources. “They don’t have an EKG machine... or even a peak flow meter. So my talks have to be relevant to their reality… It really takes the help of Dr. Weldon for me to bounce things off of him.”

Dr. Schwartzkopf gives a lecture via telehealth at Longisa County Referral Hospital.

One tangible result is improved care for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), as the hospital updated their protocols based on Dr. Schwartzkopf’s recommendations. Dr. Weldon shared: “Much of his presentations have been on respiratory and emergency care… Before, when a patient came, we used to just put them on oxygen… most of the interns would put it at 10 liters and actually, that was the time when we realized that it was actually more toxic, more poisonous to give this patient oxygen of more than seven, than not giving oxygen at all… the ideal being six, that was pinned on the wall, and what you need to look for whenever a patient shows up, and that assisted us a lot… We used to have a patient staying in the hospital after two months on oxygen… and they can get very dependent very quickly if we don’t ween them off… From the sessions we had, we actually came to realize that you want to avoid this part of oxygen dependency…. We no longer have patients staying more than three weeks in the hospital on oxygen. So, it has been a great help.”

During his visit, Dr. Schwartzkopf and his wife spent time with Dr. Kirui in Eldoret, learning about his Maasai roots and his decision to train and work in Kenya. “He’s a real inspiration for putting in all the work that goes into being a provider and yet choosing to live in the struggles that come with that in that community…He's an amazing guy.” Dr. Schwartzkopf said.

Dr. Weldon also really valued the opportunity to connect face-to-face, as it strengthens their ongoing partnership. He shared: “We were able to connect in a special way because he was with Rebecca, his wife…and I was able to get to know their family, and he was able to get to know my family also. And I am really grateful that now when he is doing presentations on the device, I can see him because I saw him physically, so there is a special bond we have created.”

Both doctors emphasize the importance of the relationships they’ve built. “Just developing relationships, getting to know them, getting to understand what their life is about… That’s been a real precious thing,” said Dr. Schwartzkopf.

The clinicians at Longisa Hospital look forward to Dr. Schwartzkopf’s lectures. Dr. Weldon shares that: “It has been a great help, and sometimes he asks me, ‘Are these sessions helpful?’ And I tell myself ‘I wish you knew how these are so helpful’… In fact, if he was to miss two consecutive months, people will be asking, ‘Where is Dr. Eric?”

Their collaboration shows how telehealth, built on respect and real connection, can make healthcare more accessible and strengthen communities. As Dr. Kirui said simply: “We were here to learn from one another.”