CBM/CBC Health Services Hand-in-Hand to Improve Access to Trauma Center in BHM
A team from the Comprehensive Program for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and Inclusive Access to Basic Services of Health and Education in the Northwest Region of Cameroon: P10228 has paid a supervision visit to the Trauma Center and Orthopedic department in Baptist Hospital Mutengene (BHM). The team was made up of the Assistant SEEPD Program Manager, Project Coordinator, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Officer, Finance, and the Communication team. The 2-day visit took place June 7-8, 2023.
During the visit that brought together some key hospital staff directly concerned with the center and some heads of department, the Assistant Program Manager, Mr. Tamon James noted that the importance of the trauma center to the hospital and the population cannot be overemphasized, reason why Christian Blind Mission (CBM) through the project has made a lot of investment in the center.
In a presentation on the overview of the trauma center, the Project Coordinator, Loshshie Eugene disclosed that Baptist Hospital Mutengene (BHM) is the main location for surgical correction of neglected clubfoot with a surgeon trained by CBM. In addition, the center is addressing an increased burden of trauma cases caused by ongoing humanitarian conflict and road traffic accidents. It is against this backdrop that CBM is investing in upgrading and improving accessibility to the center. He added that the activity began with an accessibility audit conducted by the project team after which recommendations were made to improve access to the center. The Coordinator noted that the objective of the visit was to supervise and follow up on the implementation of access audit recommendations to improve physical access to the center’s building and access to services.
Some of the recommendations made were to designate and mark accessibility for wheelchair users, ramp under construction be inclusive, accessibility signages be provided for all services delivery points, and offices, examination beds be adjustable, and grab bars be put in toilets with weight supporting iron stools toilet for supporting landing amongst others.
The Project Finance team led by Ndong Irene drilled the staff on CBM finance compliance, which is expected to be respected in the activity implementation. They disclosed that 25 million cfa frs has been invested in the work that is going on to ensure access to the center. Heads of some departments present in the meeting were also schooled on the reporting tools.
The M&E Officer, Harris Yengoh encouraged the staff to always capture data required from them in the reporting template so that it can be reported to CBM. After a presentation session with the staff, the supervision team paid a visit to the different areas of the center where work is going on to improve accessibility.
At the end of the visit, the team was satisfied with the work being done and identified areas of further improvement. The Project Coordinator commended the hospital management for efforts in ensuring accessibility to the center. He pledged the support of the project team in ensuring that everyone has access to the center.
With the work done so far in ensuring accessibility to the center, healthcare delivery has improved, as those with a physical disability can use the ramp in walking to the different service delivery points. Woloko James is admitted to the Trauma center after a bike accident that led to the amputation of his leg. He expressed that his movement from the center to the pharmacy and canteen is less stressful.
The Project team is working with the hospital to facilitate the production of signages, which are expected to be put on different services point soonest for easy access to services.
This activity is implemented, thanks to support from CBM.