Medical Outreach Update

Transcription

1 Harpur Memorial Hospital in Menouf A Ministry of the Episcopal / Anglican Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa Medical Outreach Update November 2013

2 Harpur Memorial Hospital in Menouf Harpur Memorial Hospital has been serving the city of Menouf and the surrounding area in the Nile Delta since Over recent years, there has been a large increase in the number of patients due to the outstanding care of the hospital. Harpur Memorial Hospital exists to serve the community. It provides medical care at an affordable level, and provides subsidies for patients who are very poor so they can receive the needed medical treatment. The hospital is situated in a rural area of Egypt, and the monthly income of many of the patients is very low. For many, Harpur Memorial Hospital in Menouf is the only opportunity for medical care which is affordable for them. Harpur Memorial Hospital is a full service hospital with 75 beds and 24-hour staffing. It is committed to providing excellent medical care, on a non-discriminatory basis, for all people regardless of ethnic, social, or religious differences. The hospital has become known for this impartial and humane approach within the region of Menoufiya. The hospital provides a model of life dialogue that seeks the welfare of all people. It is not a theoretical or theological engagement but it involves serving and loving our neighbours, both Muslim and Christian. This is a powerful way of engaging with our communities, especially as over 95% of the patients are Muslim. Over recent years, the hospital has partnered with Misr il-khair, an Islamic NGO chaired by the former Grand Mufti Dr Ali Gomaa, to provide medical outreaches in villages in Menoufia and for providing low-cost cataract surgeries. Harpur Memorial Hospital in Menouf is a teaching hospital, and has regular in-service training programs for its staff, which is also offered to other hospitals in Egypt. In January 2014, two American surgeons will start the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) program in Menouf. PAACS is a strategic response to the urgent need for well-trained surgeons in Africa, and the program will enable participating Egyptian doctors to experience surgical training at the same level of competency as surgical trainees receive in North America. PAACS provides a systematic, 5-year program of academic, clinical and technical training, under the close supervision of internationally certified professors. In 2012, the hospital treated 108,019 outpatients, 3,000 inpatients and carried out 3,156 surgeries. The number of patients at the hospital has also increased over the past 4 years. In 2009, there were 58,460 outpatients, 1,667 outpatients, and 812 surgeries. Currently there are 91 nurses and cleaning workers, 15 fulltime doctors, 21 part-time doctors, and 12 administrative staff. The hospital provides surgery and inpatient services in the following specialties: hepatology, gynaecology, paediatric, ophthalmology, ENT, orthopaedic, neurosurgery and cardiology. The hospital provides the following outpatient clinics in the following specialty areas; internal medicine, liver, gynaecology, paediatric, dermatology, ophthalmology, dental, ENT, orthopaedic, physiotherapy, surgery, neurosurgery, psychiatry, neurology, cardiology and echocardiography.

3 Medical Outreaches From 1 January 30 November 2013, Harpur Memorial Hospitals examined 4,862 people during 34 medical outreaches. The Diocese of Singapore and it s cathedral, St Andrew s, donated a medical bus to the Diocese of Egypt in Over the past 3 years, the bus has enabled the hospitals to provide medical treatment in rural areas and urban slum areas where there are little or no medical services. Each medical outreach is different depending on the needs of the local community. The services offered include: dental, dermatology, gynaecology, internal medicine, paediatrics, pharmacy, ophthalmology, surgery. In 2013, Harpur Memorial Hospital in Menouf is working in partnership with Misr il-khair and the Embassy of Ireland for the medical outreaches. Because of increased donor support, the number of outreaches and people served has increased (in 2012 there were 17 outreaches serving 1,285 people). Also, new equipment has been purchased for outreaches, and the services have increased. For example, the medical outreaches now provides free medicine. This is important as the outreaches visit poor communities, and otherwise, the patients may not be able to purchase the equipment they need. Before doing an outreach at a new place, staff from the hospital visit the location to discuss the venue and facilities for the outreach. They ensure that the community leaders (usually from the local mosque or church) prepare the venue adequately, and ensure that the venue will be ready so that the doctors can start examining patients as soon as they arrive. There is a strong community ownership as the community leaders must provide a clean and suitable place for the outreach, ensure that there are separate rooms, or curtains are put up, to make separate clinics, write a list of patients in advance, and provide administrative assistance on the day of the outreach. The medical bus is used to transfer the equipment and staff, the private room in the back is used for gynaecology patients and the glass window and storage facilities are used for the pharmacy. The doctors initially provided free treatment for patients. However, this caused problems as many people would come to a specific clinic just in case they had a medical problem. This created long waiting times, and deprived other patients who were actually ill the opportunity to see the doctor. For this reason, each person is now required to pay 3LE. The outreach team is planning to visit each location every 2-3 months. The co-ordinator of the outreaches, Dr. Ireni, notes that when the hospital started doing outreaches, she had to approach villages to ask their permission to come. Now, they have a waiting list and villages are always asking for the doctors to come. Most of the villages do not have a church, and Dr Ireni estimates that 2 out of every 100 patients are Muslim. Patients who need further treatment are referred to either Harpur Memorial Hospitals in Menouf or Sadat City. This helps to raise the profile of the hospitals, which is especially important for Harpur Memorial Hospital in Sadat City which opened in December Patients referred from outreaches are offered a 25-50% discounts on treatment at the hospitals, and are offered cataract surgery for free.

4 Testimonies In the village of New Kafr-Daoud, the outreach was held inside a mosque. The time scheduled for the clinics coincided with the prayer time of the mosque. The doctors asked the imam of the mosque shall we come another time of the day? The imam replied Please feel free to come at prayer time as you are providing a valuable service to us. People will be able pray at another mosque. In November, we did a medical outreach for the first time in a village called Tamalay in Menoufia. As the doctors got out of the cars, there was a group of teenage boys who were shouting insults at them. As they examined patients at the temporary clinic set up in a school in this Muslim village, the boys were shouting and singing songs insulting Christians. For example, the pastors died, bury them, provocative statements about the recent attacks on churches in Egypt. As we finished the clinic, the elders of the village thanked us for coming. They told us the medical service was so needed in the village, and they wanted us to keep coming. As the doctors were leaving, one of the doctors said to the teenagers study well as we want you to become doctors so you can serve the people of your village. The teenage boys, who had been so insulting, said to her please don t stop coming. The doctor was so moved by this change in their attitudes. The medical outreaches help to build bridges between Muslims and Christians. One of the outreaches was held in a village in Menoufia where there is no church and no Christians. One girl came up to the doctor, and asked Are you a Christian? as she was surprised they would come to her village and provide medical care. In Menoufia, there is a Muslim medical NGO called Streams of Goodness which does medical outreaches in rural areas. When they visited the village of Sansift, the local people told them about the medical outreach team from Harpur Memorial Hospital in Menouf. They praised the team for their honesty, the good way they deal with people, and the quality service they provide. Because of this recommendation and because they needed an ophthalmologist to join their team, Streams of Goodness invited Dr. Ireni (the ophthalmologist) from Harpur Memorial Hospital in Menouf to join them in their next medical outreach. In the village of Old Kafr-Dawood, the people did not believe that a medical outreach would come to serve them in their village. For this reason, they did not come until they saw us arrive! After the outreach, they asked if we can go there at least once a week and spent the night there. In 2013, a female gynecologist started to join the outreaches. The women patients in the villages are so happy to have a female doctor to examine them. These examinations are usually done in the mobile medical clinic where it is more private and more hygienic.

5 Critical cases Many of the children who come for the paediactrics clinic have poor nutrition or worms. However, sometimes the doctors identify critical cases. One mother came to an outreach with a 3 month old baby whose only symptoms were the common cold. When the paediactric doctor examined the baby, she found there was a problem with her heart. She referred the case to the hospital in Menouf, where the baby was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition, and then referred to another hospital for the operation. This problem becomes inoperable after the child is 3-4 years old. The doctors notes how these cases show the importance of the outreaches, where such critical conditions are picked up. She encourages the other doctors to be very thorough in their examinations, even when there are so many patients waiting. Dr. Nahed, the diabetic specialist, examined one patient with blood sugar levels higher than 400 (150 is the normal level). It was the first time for the patient to know they had diabetes and it was crucial this was picked up. Many of the outreaches are held in villages which have little or no medical services. Many of the children suffer from preventable illnesses such as infections, parasites, dysentery, scabies and fungal infections. One boy who came with his mother had acute follicular tonsillitis. He was in pain, and had experienced a high fever for the past 7 days. Although it was easy for the doctors to diagnose and prescribe treatment, the mother hadn t sought any medical help before as she didn t have enough money and the village was far from a hospital. The boy was provided with medicine for free and referred to Harpur Memorial Hospitals in Menouf or Sadat City. Invitations to serve One leader of a rural village in the governate of Giza has been coming to Harpur Memorial Hospital in Menouf for many years, despite the fact that it takes 1.5 hours to travel there. He has been asking for a long time for an outreach in this village, and an outreach will visit soon. In October, a group of 30 Imams and 30 Sheikhs visited the hospital as part of the Imam-Priest Exchange, an interfaith project of the Diocese of Egypt (see One of the doctors talked to a imam from an rural area near Cairo. He was so excited to hear about the outreaches, and he invited the outreach team to come to his village. Contact Details For more information about the medical outreaches, please contact: Dr. Samir Rizkalla Director of Harpur Memorial Hospital in Menouf Mobile No: Address: samir_harpur@yahoo.com Ms. Rosie Fyfe Diocese of Egypt Partnership Office Mobile No: Address: rosie@dioceseofegypt.org

6 Outreaches: 1 January 30 November Date Location Number of patients Medical services 15 February Ain Shams, Cairo 47 4 doctors: Ain Shams is a slum area of Cairo. The outreach was held at the Ain Shams Community Paediactrics Development Centre, a ministry run by Anglican Diocese of Egypt, which provides literacy Internal medicine classes, health education, pre-school, micro-finance, and student tutoring classes. Ophthalmology For more information about the centre please see: www. Dermatology 22 February Kilo Arba w Nuss, Cairo Kilo Arba w Nuss is located about 10 km from Heliopolis. Many Sudanese refugees live in miserable circumstances in this area. St Michael s Anglican Church in Heliopolis, which has a large Sudanese congregation, has recently started a social development centre in the area to assist refugees. The doctors examined 234 people, but there were at least 150 more people who came and who were not able to be examined. 25 February Kilo 84 Kilo 84 is a village close to Sadat City on the Cairo-Alexandria Desert road. The outreach was held at a mosque. 8 March El-Khatatba A village in Menoufia. There are no medical services in this village, and people have to travel a long distance to receive medical treatment. 18 March New Kafr-Daoud A village in Menoufia. There are no medical services in this village, and people have to travel a long distance to receive medical treatment. 22 March Bait Eil Bait Eil is a Christian conference centre north of Cairo. The medical outreach was on Mother s Day, and the doctors treated women who were attending a conference. They were all from slum areas. 25 March Wady el-natrun The medical team was ready for a large number of patients, however only 27 patients came in total. This is because there are sufficient medical services in this area, and also the outreach was held in an unsuitable location. While, the team is planning to return to the other locations, they will not visit Wady El-Natrun again. 1 April Old Kafr-Daoud Old Kafr-Daoud is a village in Menouf. There is a big need for the medical services in this village and also they are very poor. Many people came late because they did not really believe that medical team would come to their village and they did not come until they saw the bus arrive doctors:paediatrics Internal medicine Ophthalmology Dermatology Dental doctors:surgery and orthopaedics Paediatrics, internal medicine Ophthalmology, Dermatology Dental doctors:paediatrics, internal medicine, Ophthalmology, Dermatology Dental doctors: Surgery and orthopaedics Paediatrics, Internal medicine Dermatology, Dental doctors: Orthopaedics, Paediatrics Internal medicine, Ophthalmology Dermatology, Dental,Gynaecology 27 6 doctors: Orthopaedics, Paediatrics internal medicine, ophthalmology Dermatology, dentist doctors: Orthopaedics, Paediatrics internal medicine, ophthalmology Dermatology, dentist Gynaecology Other staff 2 nurses 1 driver 2 nurses 1 driver 3 nurses 1 lab technician 2 administrators 1 pharmacist 3 nurses 1 lab technician 2 administrators 1 pharmacist 1 driver 3 nurses 1 lab technician 1 administrator 1 pharmacist 3 nurses 1 pharmacist 1 driver 3 nurses 1 lab technician 1 administrator 1 pharmacist 3 nurses 1 lab technician 1 administrator 1 pharmacist

7 Date Location Number of Staff patients 22 April El Amal Village, a village in Menoufia doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 26 April El Amria, a village near Alexandria doctors, 2 nurses, 1 administrator, 1 driver 13 May Old Kafr-Daoud, a village in Menoufia doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 15 May El Amal, a village in Menoufia doctors. 2 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 pharmacist, 1 driver 17 May Ezbit el-hagana, a village in Menoufia doctors. 2 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 driver 20 May Ezbet Saqr, a village in Menoufia 81 5 doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 1 driver 24 May El Ras el Soda, a very poor village on the outskirts of Alexandria The outreach was held at the EL Ras doctors. 3 nurses, 1 driver el Soda Community Development Centre, a ministry of Anglican Diocese of Egypt. 27 May Kilo 84, a village close to Sadat City on the Cairo-Alexandria Desert road doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 3 June El-Khatatba, a village in Menoufia doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 1 driver 10 June Old Kafr-Daoud, a village in Menoufia 81 5 doctors. 2 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 17 June Qariet Salam, a village in Menoufia doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 1 driver 24 June Ezbet Naser, a village in Menoufia doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 13 July Beit Eil, a Christian conference centre north of Cairo. The doctors treated children from slum areas in Cairo who were attending a conference. There were two doctors (a paediatrician and ophthalmologist) doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, who did screening for eyes and general health. 12 August El Salam Village, a village in Menoufia doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 1 driver 26 August El-Khatatba, a village in Menoufia doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 2 September El Amal Village, a village in Menoufia 70 5 doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 1 driver 9 September Kilo 84, a village close to Sadat City on the Cairo-Alexandria Desert road doctors. 5 doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 2 drivers 21 September Singerg, a village in Menoufia doctor. 5 doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist,

8 3 October El-Brigat, a village in Menoufia doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 10 October El-Tarana, a village in Menoufia doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 24 October Tamalay, a village in Menoufia doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 1 driver 31 October Markaz Badr, a village in Menoufia doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 7 November Old Kafr-Daoud, a village in Menoufia 79 5 doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 1 driver 14 November Bani Salama, a village in Menoufia doctors.3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 21 November El-Khatatba, a village in Menoufia doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, 28 November El-Tarana, a village in Menoufia doctors. 3 nurses, 1 lab technician, 1 administrator, 1 pharmacist, Total 34 Outreaches 4,862 patients

9 Kilo Arba w Nuss, Cairo

10 Kilo 84, Menoufia and Ain Shams, Cairo

11 El Khatatba, Menoufia

12 Old Kafr El-Daoud, Menoufia