Dear colleagues and friends,
As we approach the closing of 2015 we have so much for which to be thankful. At Kijabe the medical and surgical services continue to grow as well as the physical campus. The picture to the right illustrates this quite dramatically. The large aqua colored roof is that of the new Bethany Kids Hospital. It should opening this coming January. Kijabe is blessed with pediatricians, pediatric surgeons, neurosurgeons, general surgeons, internists and family physicians along with an excellent supporting staff and administration.
A new 16 slice CT scanner (pictured left) is now functional 24/7 and adds a much needed diagnostic modality for the complicated cases now seen at Kijabe Hospital. The hospital’s new waste water sanitation system (pictured right) is coming on stream meeting all the environmental standards, and offering clean safe useable water for farming in the valley below.
Within the lab we continue to receive reliable water for our work. The new Dragon Medical Practice, Edition 2, voice recognition system which was installed this past summer is operating smoothly as is the Sennheiser wireless headset and charging platform. Two new computers needed for the upgrades were installed as well and are functioning to our expectations. A new edition of FileMaker Pro was also installed for our data management and reporting. And lastly, a new Canon camera interface with a microscope was linked with the computer and monitor to enable reliable email consultation with State side pathologists, also enabling us to teach and demonstrate our microscopic findings to the medical staff when they stop by to seek our opinions. All of the improvements to our working office was made possible through your generous gifts to Kijabe Pathology. We praise God for all His blessings.
The Hospital did have an unplanned event, a fire in the cafeteria by the outpatient building. It occurred on a Friday night after a 5 hour power outage, and as electricity was being restored an electrical malfunction set the cafeteria ablaze. The response was outstanding and there was no loss of life, and although a few patients were moved, all were safe and out of harm’s way. Praise God for His protective care! No more Chai and Ndazi breaks for the pathology volunteers at the cafeteria for a while.
The housing shortage is becoming a critical issue as new long term missionary volunteers and their families are coming to Kijabe to add their expertise to the growing medical services. I have been asked to consider a proposal to swap the Pathology House (wagtail) for a permanent unit in the Sitaplex which would be dedicated to the visiting pathologist. The unit would be 3B which is on the third floor with the best valley view, and a nice quiet balcony. The unit has three bedrooms, full kitchen with a dining area, and living room with an inside fire box. Mari and I have stayed in 2B on one visit and found the Sitaplex to be very adequate and more centrally located to the mission compound. I have asked several of the more recent volunteers for their opinions and if any of you who have served in the more distant past have an opinion, please let me know your thoughts. Personally, I think the proposal makes sense for the best use of the housing units.
Now at the conclusion of 2015 Dr. Mardi Steere representing the entire medical staff and I wish to close with a big thank you to all who have served in 2015, Drs. Garcia, Murphy, Davidson, Busler, me, Wongchaowart, Niewenhuis, Grenko, and Reich. I hope you have been blessed in the experience of serving in Kijabe as much as Kijabe has been blessed by having you serve. Also, a big thank you to your spouses and family that have shared in the ministry.
2016 looks like another challenging year to supply Kijabe with short term volunteer missionary pathologists. We are blessed with Vanderbilt University beginning a Global Health Initiative in pathology at Kijabe. They plan to cover two of the months with a faculty member and resident as Dr. Garcia has done over the past several years in January and part of February. The schedule is as “posted” below. If any of you are able to serve in the open dates, please contact Mary Everett at meverett@samaritan.org or call her at 828-278-1177. If you have never served before, rest assured that God will bless you with an experience that you will remember the rest of your life.
Year end contributions: As you may recall we now have a project fund number 002585 at Samaritan's Purse for the purpose of supporting Kijabe Pathology in two ways... 1) financial airfare support for pathology residents/fellows interested in working and experiencing the practice of pathology in an international field along side of a serving short term missionary pathologist, 2) low cost items that we often appreciate but find in low supply or in need of replacing, such as the office computer, printer, ink supplies, long 25 gauge needles for FNAs, scissor replacements, etc. Your gifts are tax deductable and receipts will be promptly issued for documentation. An accounting of the use of the funds will be given in the last quarter of 2014. If this would be an interest to you, there are three ways to make a donation:
1) Donation by Mail: make your check out to "World Medical Missions, Kijabe project # 002585" and send it to World Medical Mission, Attention: Mary Everett, P.O. Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607,
2) Online Donation: link http://www.samaritanspurse.org/medical/wmm-doctors/ , or go to www.samaritanspurse.org and do the following… a) from the menu across the top hover mouse over “Support”, b) in the second column under “other Opportunities” click on “Support a Physician”, c) type in
Kijabe Pathology and follow prompts. This will get into the Kijabe Project Fund 002585.
3) Donate by Phone: Use your credit card to donate by calling Donor Ministries department at 828-278-1555, Monday–Friday from 8:30 AM–4:30 PM EST. You will need the project code number 002585 available when calling.
Please consider this year’s end for donations, and please recommend doctors who may benefit from some degree of financial assistance, or make suggestions for needed improvements in capital items for the laboratory.
Have a blessed Christmas and a great New Year.
By His grace,
Lee