Baptist Health Center Kribi Commemorates First Anniversary
Baptist Health Centre Kribi commemorated her first anniversary on April 9, 2019 at the health centre premises. The anniversary provided the administration and staff the opportunity to take stock of successes recorded thus far, as well as challenges faced, with a renewed commitment to the CBC Health Services mission statement of providing quality care to all as an expression of Christian love.
The Health Centre which took off on April 9, 2018 had only 15 staff distributed into 8 departments; pharmacy, laboratory, eye, ANC/In-patient, maternity, finance, Security, housekeeping, and outpatient departments. On the opening day, the health center attended to 48 clients who went home with smiles on their faces under the watchful eyes of the Administrator of Mboppi Baptist Hospital, Mr. Nfor Daouda and the Assistant Administrator in-charge of Personnel at the time, Miss Tangwa Faith and a host of other staff from Mboppi Baptist Hospital Douala,
Barely a year, this lone Baptist Health Center in the South Region of Cameroon has grown in the number of clients attended to, services provided, infrastructure, and health equipment.
“Patient turnover since creation of the health centre has steadily increased. We now see an average of 50-60 patients daily and from April 2018 to April 2019 we have consulted an average of 1,454 patients,” explains the Chief of Centre, Mr. Mbeng Frankline. He added that the population of Kribi holds in high esteem the Health Centre, which is fondly referred to in this part of the country as Mbingo Annex.
“The Kribi inhabitants boast about our exceptional hospitality, assiduity, and how fast we attend to their health needs. They also appreciate our application of Christian principles in the way we exercise our duties, and the general care, and attention staff give clients who turn up for consultation and treatment,” the COC added.
As a hallmark of assiduity, utmost care and the high value the health centre places on human life, it has become the most rushed into health facility with emergency cases. For the past months, the health centre served and continues to save lives in the Kribi community; emergency cases are attended to first before payment is demanded. This is a mark of distinction which has won the hearts of the population that now patronizes the health facility.
The tentacles of the facility are felt in the functioning of new departments which weren’t present at the start. “We now operate the dental services, women’s health services, ultrasound services, social worker services, and the secretariat. We have a gynaecologist who operates on part time basis and a Toyota Hilux that helps in taking emergency cases to the District Hospital,” submitted the Chief of Center.
The Chief of Center further explained that Baptist Health Centre Kribi has plans to set up a theatre where caesarean- section can be carried out, provide space for the chaplaincy, PMTCT, injection and treatment, and observation wards. “We intend to increase our staff strength in the laboratory, finance, maternity and eye departments. This will enable us to run shifts in some departments for better patient care,” the chief of centre revealed.
Baptist Health Centre Kribi grappled with some challenges within this first year of its creation namely, difficulties in the management of medical waste, water shortage during the dry season, lack of space to expand services, and the slow progress in the procedure to acquire land for the health center.
Baptist Health Centre Kribi is more determined than ever to grow to higher heights. The staff members have been carrying out sensitization in local churches, and in the plantations of SOCAPALM and HERVECAM. The health centre equally joined the Performance Based Financing (PBF) three months ago, which evaluation put the health centre as the cleanest, most hospitable, orderly and highest in patient attendance in the Ocean division.