Kagando Hospital - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Location

Kagando Hospital, also known as Kagando Mission Hospital, is located in Kagando, Kasese District

Kasese District

Kasese District is a district in Western Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Kasese, where the district headquarters are located.-Location:Kasese District is located along the Equator...

, Rwenzururu sub-region, Western Uganda

Western Region, Uganda

Western Region is a region of Uganda. It is divided into the following districts:...

, at the foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains, and close to Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park

-Location:The national park is located in western Uganda, spanning the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Bushenyi and Rukungiri. Its location is approximately , by road, southwest of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. The town of Kasese lies just outside the northeastern edge of the park,...

.

Its location is approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi), by road, southwest of Kasese

Kasese

Kasese is a town in Western Uganda, lying north of Lake George. It originally grew around the copper mine at Kilembe, while attention later turned to cobalt mining. It is the 'chief town' of Kasese District and the district headquarters are located there...

, where the district headquarters are located. This location lies approximately 17 kilometres (11 mi), by road, east of Mpondwe

Mpondwe

-Location:Mpondwe is located in the Rwenzori Mountains, in Kasese District, Western Uganda. The town lies at the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bwera is another settlement to the immediate east of Mpondwe border crossing...

, at the International border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

. The coordinates of Kagando Hospital are:0° 3' 51.00"N, 29° 53' 51.00"E (Latitude:0.064167; Longitude:29.897500).

Overview

Kagando Hospital is a rural community hospital, owned and administered by Kagando Rural Development Center (KARUDEC), a Christian Missionary NGO

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

that also owns and manages Kagando School of Nursing and Midwifery and other community outreach ptrograms in the area. KARUDEC is affiliated with the Church of Uganda

Church of Uganda

The Church of the Province of Uganda is a member church of the Anglican Communion. Currently there are 34 dioceses which make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop....

.

The hospital has 250 beds and averages about 20,000 annual outpatient visits and about 18,000 annual inpatient admissions. The professional staff includes: 2 surgeon

Surgeon

In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...

s, 2 physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

s, one anesthesiologist

Anesthesiologist

An anesthesiologist or anaesthetist is a physician trained in anesthesia and peri-operative medicine....

, one physiotherapist and a number of nurses and midwives.

Every morning at 8 am in the KARUDEC Chapel, there is a service for all doctors, nurses, nursing students and medical students, in which the hospital patients and local issues are prayed for. After the church service, everyone goes to do their work. Kagando hospital is a favorite choice for medical students in the Ugandan medical schools and foreign medical students who may volunteer to spend their elective (part of their training which involves work overseas) at Kagando.

History

The hospital was established in 1965, by the African Inland Missionaries. In the beginning, it treated primarily patients afflicted with leprosy

Leprosy

Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...

. Today, the specialty wards at the hospital include the following:

Pediatric Ward
Male Medical Ward
Female Medical Ward
Male Surgical Ward
Female Surgical Ward
Maternity Ward
Leprosy Ward
Tuberculosis Ward

In response to the needs of the community, the hospital established outreach programs, including the following:

Kagando School of Nursing and Midwifery was established in 1965 to respond to the shortage of nurses and midwives in the community. Today, student capacity of nearly 250 students
There was a severe outbreak of cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...

in 1978, folowing which, a community-based healthcare project was established, which is involved in malaria control, water supply and sanitation.
A Functional Adult Literacy Program
Due to increasing malnutrition in the community, particularly among children, an agricultural extension program was started in 1981
An Agriculture Extension program, icluding a KARUDEC Farm on the 35 acres (14 ha) campus
A Microfinance program
A kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

and elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...

with nearly 700 pupils
A chaplaincy at the centre of all the programmes. The Kagando Chaplainncy is under the South Rwenzori Diocese of the Church of Uganda
Church of Uganda
The Church of the Province of Uganda is a member church of the Anglican Communion. Currently there are 34 dioceses which make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop....
In 1986 Kagando Hospital (250 beds), and its outreach activities rebranded as Kagando Rural Development Center (KARUDEC), an NGO
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

.

The community in KARUDEC's service area is intimately involved in the NGO's activities. The people in the community are generally poor, with limited means and often with limited formal education. Despite the odds, KARUDEC is slowly making a positive impact.

Location

Overview

History

External links

See also