St. Camillus Mission Hospital

 So I have arrived to my new home for the next year! St. Camillus Mission Hospital (SCMH) was founded by the Camillian order from Italy. Approx 20 years ago, that religious order began their presence in Karungu, introducing not only the church but new schools and hospitals to a region that had very little else than a small fishing/agriculture community and market. The closest hospital was almost 2 hrs away, so the presence of a facility such as SCMH was very needed and aided the community not only in health but economy, providing jobs to many of the residents.

St. Camillus, servant of the sick.

Continually developing the campus since 1997, services including outpatient care, surgical, maternity, medical, pediatric, and AIDS treatment/counseling are now offered, treating a large portion of the community (who again have little to no access to primary care, let alone specialized care to treat tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS.)

Main part of hospital: houses outpatient department,
children's ward, pharmacy, xray/ultrasound, administration 

Anywho, as I settle in, I am in the process of learning my new role at the facility. I am currently working closely with the nursing staff to learn their methods/overall workings of the hospital and learning from local doctors 

and “clinical officers” (who are the equivalent to a PA or NP) of how diseases specific to this region are treated with the resources available.

Children's ward. Most kids are here with malaria.
However, all are the cutest kids ever. No doubt about it. 

To put this into perspective, although this hospital is truly amazing for where it is and the care it delivers, it is not the level 1 trauma hospital ER I recently came from. The level of care and treatment is appropriate but certainly limited to exactly what's needed; lab tests are judiciously ordered; there are no CT scans; medicines and supplies are present but require some savvy nursing to utilize everything to its fullest.

Surgical theatre; surgical ward; maternity ward
With that, it has been a fun journey learning how “bush” medicine is performed and how some very sick patients are cared for. I definitely have a long way to go, tailoring my methods and adapting to a unique medical scene. I will keep you posted and share with you the journey!  

My actual home for the next year.

View from staff homes :)

A nice little shot of Lake Victoria.