Masanga Hospital

Masanga Hospital

The Emergency Admissions Unit at Masanga Hospital
The location of Masanga Hospital in Sierra Leone, West Africa
Geography
Location Masanga, Tonkolili District, Northern Province, Sierra Leone
Coordinates 8°44′57″N 11°50′14″W / 8.749249°N 11.837149°W / 8.749249; -11.837149Coordinates: 8°44′57″N 11°50′14″W / 8.749249°N 11.837149°W / 8.749249; -11.837149
Organisation
Funding Non-profit hospital
Hospital type District
Affiliated university Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry
Patron MasangaDK, MasangaUK
Services
Emergency department Yes
Helipad No
Beds 100
Links
Website http://www.masangahospital.org
The paediatric ward at Masanga Hospital

Masanga Hospital or Masanga Leprosy Hospital is a hospital that currently provides healthcare in paediatrics, maternity, general medicine and surgery. It is located in Tonkolili district, Northern Province, Sierra Leone, West Africa.[1] The hospital was ransacked and used as a rebel stronghold during the Sierra Leone Civil War, but having reopened in 2006 it is now a functioning rural hospital once more. The hospital is run by a partnership between several European charitable organisations: MasangaUK,[2] Sierra Leonean Adventists Abroad (SLAA)[1] and Associated Friends of Masanga (AFOM).[3] Though in the long-term the hospital aims to be government-funded, it currently subsides on charitable donations. Free healthcare is offered to under fives and pregnant women, and also to locals of limited means.

Services offered

The hospital consists of a surgical ward with male and female wings of around 20 beds each, a maternity ward, paediatrics ward and stabilisation centre for malnourished children. There is an outpatients department, which sees a large volume of patients each day, and includes a wound clinic with specialist care for leprosy patients and tropical ulcers. There are two theatres, which perform planned hernia, hydrocele and amputation operations, and unplanned abdominal surgery and caesarian section operations. There is a laboratory capable of testing for malaria, blood borne viruses, gastrointestinal paracytes, tuberculosis and leprosy, blood typing and performing further diagnostic tests. The hospital also has some capabilities in dentistry and ophthalmology.[4]

Surgical Training Programme

Masanga Hospital provides surgical training which is open to Clinical Officers (COs or CHOs) and doctors in Sierra Leone. Trainees receive instruction in crucial surgical procedures including hernias, abdominal surgery and caesarian sections, while also working in the hospital to provide senior level care on the wards and in outpatients. The programme is set to expand and will include trainees working for six months at Masanga Hospital, then relocating to another hospital in Sierra Leone to gain further experience and to provide general assistance.[5] The programme has recently been taken over by a Norwegian charity called CapaCare.[6]

Acute Admissions Ward

The Grace Emergency Unit takes acute adult and paediatric admissions, who may need a more intensive level of care than is easily available on the other hospital wards, and aims to stabilise them before transfer to a ward appropriate for a longer stay. This work is overseen and funded by a UK charity, Masanga UK.[2] and is also supported by the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Sierra Leonean Adventists Abroad ''
  2. 1 2 Masanga UK ''
  3. ↑ Associated Friends of Masanga ''
  4. ↑ Visit to the hospital by the author, Dr Jack Pickard, in September 2011
  5. ↑ Visit to the hospital by the author in September 2011
  6. ↑ CapaCare ''
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