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New outpatient clinic to open at Ganta in Liberia

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A UMNS photo by David Sadoo, GBGM

A new outpatient clinic at United Methodist-supported Ganta Hospital will provide better care for Liberians.
May 30, 2006

A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*


A new outpatient clinic for United Methodist-related Ganta Hospital in Liberia is expected to open by the end of June.

That was a highlight in a report of activities at the hospital from January to April, prepared by Mary Zigbuo, a missionary with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries and the hospital’s administrator.

The new construction began in February and was financed through a $100,000 donation from First United Methodist Church in Peoria, Ill.

A similar pledge is expected by the end of the year, according to United Methodist Bishop John Innis of Liberia. When received, another building will be constructed. The total project cost is estimated at $1.1 million, and more donations are needed.

The current hospital building eventually will house primary health care and the School of Nursing. The hospital’s Primary Health Care Building, burned in 2003 during civil unrest, is still in need of renovation and restoration, the report said.

A new building complex for the eye clinic, sponsored by Christian Blind Mission, opened in April. Ganta Hospital continues to receive ongoing support from the mission and the United Methodist Committee on Relief, Operation Classroom, United Methodists in Germany and the United Methodist Liberia Annual Conference, according to Zigbuo.

A recent UMCOR grant, for example, allows the hospital staff to have e-mail access via satellite. “This is a first for Ganta, and we are excited about it,” Zigbuo said in an e-mail. “Now, we will be able to communicate in a timely manner with all partners.”

Improving services

LINK: Click to open full size version of image
A UMNS photo by David Sadoo, GBGM

Ganta Hospital, badly damaged in 2003 by government and rebel forces, is opening a new outpatient clinic this June.

Currently operating on three shifts, with a staff of 144, Ganta continues to improve its service units — eye clinic, primary health care, prenatal clinic, laboratory and pharmacy, according to the report. The dental clinic still needs improvement. The hospital raises enough income to pay all workers except its three doctors, who are paid with external funds.

Through the Mercy Ship program, Albert Willicor, Ganta’s chief medical officer, received training to perform the corrective surgical procedure for vesico-vaginal fistula, a medical condition related to childbirth that can leave a woman incontinent for life. Ganta is now able to provide the VVF surgeries at an affordable cost.

“Women with this condition are relegated to a life of rejection,” the report noted. “In their village setting, they are our modern day ?Lepers.’”

Ronda Cordill, a volunteer nurse from the United Methodist Pacific Northwest Conference, continues to assist with the hospital’s diabetes management program. Because blood glucose monitoring equipment and supplies aren’t readily available, such readings usually occur at hospitals.

Insulin, when it can be found, is very expensive. “Because of the price, and due to poverty, people in village settings who are privileged to obtain a vial of insulin sometimes take lesser quantities than prescribed because they want to make a vial that should last for one month last for two months,” Zigbuo pointed out. “They are aware that this practice places their life at risk, but they are unable to do otherwise.”

Cordill is trying to help the hospital purchase insulin at a low price in the United States and other countries. With donated blood glucose monitoring equipment and supplies, the hospital’s primary health care department was able to teach selected patients how to perform blood glucose testing for themselves and others in their village.

Tom and Susan Fell, an anesthesiologist and nurse team from the state of Washington, spent six weeks volunteering at the hospital. Dr. Fell trained three nurse anesthetists, two from Ganta and one from another rural hospital, and Nurse Fell assisted the hospital in organizing its medical supplies and equipment storage areas. She also helped organize the move into the newly constructed eye clinic.

Ganta’s School of Nursing is expected to reopen in September for the 2006-07 school year. For now, the school will meet in its original classroom buildings and other temporary facilities.

Staffing needs

Ganta Hospital has the only X-ray machine in northeastern Liberia, but still needs an X-ray technician to run it. Volunteers are welcome to assist with that and other staffing needs — surgeons, nurses, lab technologists, and phlebotomists. Non-medical volunteers are needed to do training in accounting, office management and warehouse management.

In addition, the hospital is looking for a volunteer general practitioner willing to spend a year assisting in the outpatient clinic and teaching new skills to the staff, Zigbuo reported. A volunteer surgeon also is needed for an extended period of time to do training and serve as a relief doctor so the regular staff can take a vacation.

Other needs include two new vehicles for administrative work, health care outreach and transporting staff between shifts, a blood chemistry machine and a large auto clave for the sterilization of medical supplies.

More information about partnerships and opportunities with Ganta Hospital is available by contacting Cherian Thomas, an executive with UMCOR/Health and Welfare of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. He can be reached at cthomas@gbgm-umc.org.

A number of donation opportunities exist, including contributions to the following Advance funds: Ganta Hospital Emergency Fuel, No. 09214A; Ganta Hospital Emergency Support, No. 10010T; and Hospital Revitalization, UMCOR Advance No. 982168.

 
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