MBH Breaks Epileptic Electricity Supply Impasse
Mbingo Baptist Hospital (MBH) has set up a Hydro-electric Power Plant to begin generating electricity for the hospital. The plant was dedicated on February 6, 2022. Dedicating the plant, Rev. Nditemeh Charlemagne, Executive President of the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) urged the MBH’s Administration to embark on an immediate maintenance strategy, to prolong the lifespan of the plant.
Mr. Nji Richard Nkeh, Senior Administrator of MBH says the plant is coming to meet real needs borne from the fact that the Hospital had witnessed growth both in infrastructure and medical equipment and relying on the epileptic supply of electricity from the country’s National Supply Company; ENEO was no longer a good option, as it compromised the vision of the CBC Health Services of providing quality care to all.
“On the other hand, running the hospital on generators due to incessant power outages was not also a solution as it was inconvenient and very expensive. You can imagine that we use to spend over 60 million francs for payment of electricity bills and purchase of fuel for the generators,” yearly, lamented Mr. Nji.
The challenges of realizing such a project are many and varied but the benefit now outweighs them all. According to Prof. Denis Palmer, Dean of the Baptist Institute of Health Sciences (BIHS) and lead visionary of the power plant, the project will establish MBH as a major referral centre and teaching hospital.
“Now that we have a stable supply of power, we hope that we can do many things. We are envisaging in the next one year or more to have a functional radiotherapy centre for the treatment and management of various cancers,” Prof. Palmer revealed.
The dedication saw the attendance of one of the major funders of the project, The North American Baptist (NAB) Conference. Dr. Harry Kelm, Executive Director of NAB said the mobilization of the funds for the project was necessitated by their belief in the work of the CBC and the value of what is done through MBH. “We believe in the long-term impact of what is happening here,” he emphasized.
Speaking at the ceremony, Prof. Tih Pius Muffih, Director of CBC Health Services appreciated the funders for every franc they invested in the project. “Without funds, this project would be mere wishful thinking,” he said. He equally thanked the MBH administration for judiciously utilizing the funds to get the project realized.
The mini hydroelectric power system currently generates 300KW, while the current power demand of the hospital stands at 175 KW. Fon Abel, Electrical Engineer of the Plant says the extra energy allows for growth should the power demand of the hospital increase in the near future.
The project cost about 1.1 billion francs, realized with assistance from the United States Agency for International Development and the North American Baptist Conference.
It should be noted that the Hydro Power Plant project is MBH’s second major achievement within a short space of time. The referral hospital also realized an Oxygen Generating System that supplies clean oxygen to needy patients at their bedside through pipes and switches. Reports say, these two projects will greatly reduce the running costs and give MBH the opportunity to provide referral services in other additional specialized areas.