“Life in all its fullness” John 10:10
UPDATES FROM KISIIZI MAY 2017
Dear Friends,
The remarkable story of Kisiizi continues to unfold but its core values remain the same and the aim to bring “Life in all its
fullness” continues albeit manifested in an increasingly diverse range of ministries. We love to show visitors around and
at the end of the tour hear them express their astonishment at the services provided by this remote rural hard-to-reach
hospital. “Something is different here” is a common statement and
we know it reflects recognition of the commitment of our Staff and
the Christian motivation that undergirds Kisiizi.
Clinical Services:
Patients come to Kisiizi from near and far,
some travelling long distances to access surgery as for example in
the Urology camp earlier this year where 41 patients had operations
in a week mostly prostatectomies. All went home well and grateful.
The camp was run by our lead consultant surgeon Dr. Robert
Mugarura and a visiting team led by Dr Adam Jones from Royal
Berkshire Hospital in Reading. We were delighted that Dr Gabbie,
our previous lead surgeon now in Kampala, could join us for some of
the camp.
We had an Eye Camp with a team from Ruharo Eye Hospital in Mbarara led
by Dr Keith Waddell who has been visiting Kisiizi for decades! An orthopaedic
camp organised by Dr Robert with Dr Jonathan Jones and colleagues from
Peterborough went very well and then a team from Dublin supported our
Rehabilitation Department and helped to facilitate a multi-disciplinary
Diabetes workshop.
We have been very
blessed to welcome back
Drs Laji and Shiela
Verghese on their third
trip to Kisiizi for a couple
of months. Laji is a very
talented surgeon and
covered for Robert who
visited Chester in UK for training in orthopaedics and patient safety
while Shiela helped in paediatrics and with teaching including a
group of Clinical Officer students from S. Sudan who are on an International Christian Medical & Dental Association
sponsored training course at Mengo Hospital in Kampala but come to Kisiizi for some practical experience. Laji and
Shiela came with their friend Ranjan who now lives in Canada and specialises in neonatal nursing and is now hoping to
come and help in our School of Nursing in the future.
Once again colleagues from Chester have been hugely supportive. A paediatrician and two sonographers came to help
train our staff in use of the new ultrasound machine, a gift from Toshiba organised by Chester colleagues... one of our
trainee specialists visited recently and says it’s the best ultrasound in Uganda!
Then last week we welcomed friends from Jamie’s Fund for the grand opening of the Ahumuza Centre by the Permanent
Secretary of the Ministry of Health who flew in by helicopter landing on the playing field of our primary school. (see
website www.kisiizihospital.org.ug for photos and post).
Unfortunately our physician, Dr Dwight, together with his wife, Sister Sandy, have had to return to
UK due to sickness of parents and it is not clear when they will be able to return. We have
therefore arranged for Dr Fardous Charles (see photo) a physician from Mbarara to visit regularly.
She has an interest in cardiology which is very helpful. Then in July we look forward to Dr Krupa
George, a friend of Laji and Shiela from Vellore, joining us for six months as a physician. We are
not sure if we will be able to continue training interns in General Medicine so may have to drop
that 3 month block in their rotations.
Networks:
We have been delighted to host our new Bishop, Benon Magezi
accompanied by his wife Gladys (seen in photo with Moses Mugume, our Senior
Hospital Administrator) when Bishop Benon came to chair the Board of Governors
for the first time.
<<< Some members of Management and the Board
Kisiizi has also taken some Clinical Officer students from S. Sudan for a month of practical attachment. They are taking a
course at Mengo Hospital Kampala organised by International Christian Medical & Dental Association. Sadly at present it
is not possible to run the course in S. Sudan due to instability. We hope before too long they will qualify and be able to
go back and help rebuild their country.
The Kisiizi Community Health Insurance Scheme continues to generate a lot of interest with visitors from all over the
country coming to look at how it works. We are seeking to increase the
health promotion and health screening work and to integrate this with
more mental health and epilepsy services into the community.
Our child sponsorship programme continues to help vulnerable children
and families with education and healthcare costs and has proved a
lifeline to many. Our support from Dorcas International is coming to an
end in the next year but we are grateful to Kisiizi Partners whose
Sponsor an Orphan programme is continuing.
One challenge we face is the increasing irrigation of the valley upstream from Kisiizi with drainage of the papyrus
swamps means that less and less water is reaching the Falls and hence the hydro-electricity generation plant is
struggling to meet demand. Nationally there has been concern about reduced rainfall which has compounded the
situation. We are probably going to install some solar water heaters to reduce some of the power demand to help us
keep the lights on in the residences. The hospital is always provided for but other lines to the community and staff
accommodation are switched off when the water is inadequate.
Plans for the future include a new 2-storey ward build on the site of the old Ahumuza ward. This will allow us to have
Maternity adjacent to the operating theatres which will be more efficient than the current system where anaesthetic
and theatre staff have to move from one area to another when a mother needs a Caesarian section. We also hope to
have a new Special Care Baby Unit and to increase the size of the labour ward from 3 to 10 beds as the current demand
is high as mothers are choosing to come here to deliver.
In addition we hope to have an Intensive Therapy Unit. This relates partly to the increasing range of surgery undertaken
where some patients really need ventilator support post-operatively. We also hope to have peritoneal dialysis for
patients whose kidneys fail acutely but are likely to recover within a few days.
We are hoping to start work on the renovation of the second half of the surgical ward and at the same time enlarge the
chapel. This work will involve repair of some old areas of roofing that are failing.
We are working hard to complete the Stre@mline IT system core functionality, it is nearly done. Almost all of our
38,400 insurance members are entered on the system. It incorporates a range of patient safety features and allows
much better data collection, monitoring etc. as well as the clinical benefits.
We will welcome the Minister of Tourism on 23rd June to officially launch the
Kisiizi Falls site which has been the only project in Uganda supported by the
United Nations World Tourism Organization ST-EP program (Sustainable
Tourism – Eliminating Poverty). We have already had more than 5,400
visitors since
it opened on
23rd
December.
Above: The monument recalling the transition of Kisiizi from a place
of despair when pregnant girls who were not married would be
thrown from the falls to a place today of healing and hope.
Right: The new suspension bridge gives new perspectives on the
beautiful Falls.
See www.KisiiziFalls.com website launching in June for
more details of Kisiizi Falls
See www.kisiizihospital.org.ug for the hospital website.
Thank you for your support.