The Central Hospital is situated in Rusayu and is run by our partners Comfort Congo.
There have been several significant changes to the Central Hospital of Rusayu recently which have improved the running of the hospital and the care given to the local population. In an area of extreme poverty, where healthcare is generally non-existent or unaffordable, the hospital is the only life-saving solution for many. This update summarises the 2021 report from the hospital. Earlier news posts detail some of the recent additions to the equipment.
Staff
The hospital currently employs 19 members of staff: 2 doctors, 6 nursing staff, 1 midwife, 1 pharmacist, 1 lab technician, 1 sonographer, 1 nutritionist, 1 ambulance driver, 1 administrator, 1 accountant, 1 gardener, 1 facilities hygienist and 1 chaplain.
Buildings
The main building houses 10 medical rooms (including an operating theatre), 4 offices, a laboratory and a pharmacy. The secondary building (joined to the main building by a covered walkway) has a large room for pre and postnatal care, a medical consultation room, the doctors’ staff room, a small surgery, a dentistry and the administrators office. There are also smaller buildings which include offices, an isolation unit for patients with infections illnesses, a nutrition unit and a small basic patients’ kitchen.
The covered walkway is a recent addition which makes the transfer of patients much easier than previously. An additional water tank was installed adjacent to this in order to store the valuable rainwater collected from the roof.
Some of the older buildings are in need of updating, and there is the ongoing desire for a specific maternity unit so that mums and babies can be separated from medical and surgical patients.
Consultations and Care
In 2021 there were a total of 1856 patient consultations of which 530 patients were admitted to hospital. The CHR reported 229 births of which 113 required intervention (41 caesarean births). 145 major and minor surgical procedures where conducted. 102 patients attended the hospital as survivors of sexual violence. Malaria and Typhoid fever patients numbered 163 and 161 respectively. Various other ailments were also treated.
Local Attitudes to Healthcare
Many of the local population still treat diseases using indigenous products rather than visit the hospital. There is a fear that they will be asked to pay for medical care so prefer to remain at home or to go to the traditional practitioners. This frequently means that when they finally arrive at the hospital they have an advanced stage of the illness which in turn requires greater medical input and costs the hospital more to treat. As the reputation of the hospital continues to spread this will hopefully change. We believe that the recent installation of solar panels (see a previous new item) will help with this. Following the Nyiragongo volcanic eruption of last May a neighbouring health facility, through partnership with a supporting charity, was able to also provide free healthcare and this has reduced the burden on the Central Hospital.
Sponsorship
Several of the staff are supported through sponsorship. If you would like to support a staff member in this way please contact Comfort International or click on the button below.
a little can change a life