Kenya: Lwala Healthcare Project
Lwala Community Hospital Report Second Quarter, 2014
September 17, 2014
Katherine Falk and Jonathan White
Summary of Activities
- Funded maternal and child health costs including:
- Personnel costs for Nurses Rose Gayo and Geoffrey Orangi and Nurse Aid Rosemary Akello
- 58% of medicine costs
- Funded ambulance repairs and maintenance
- Funded fuel for ambulance to provide emergency transportation

Results &
ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Improved patient care and clinical operations
Mentorship and training
The Lwala Community Hospital provided an average of 2,709 monthly patient visits in Q2, down from an average 3,379 in Q1 with the Q1 spike in patient visits was likely due to the malaria outbreak. Staff confidence with long-term family planning procedures continues to increase through the clinical mentorship program

Improved access and facility infrastructure
Supplies procured and plans finalized
Final revisions were made for the hospital expansion designs for Phase II (connecting wing) and Phase III (inpatient ward). The tendering and bidding process is expected to begin in July and construction to start in September.

Education programs
Expand and improve quality
- The ratio of girls to boys sitting for the KCPE (Kenya Certificate of Primary Education) exam in class 8 has increased every year since LCA’s girls’ education program began. The girl:boy ratio in primary school completion has improved from 37:63 in 2009 to 45:55 in 2014.
- 50 in-school Youth Peer Providers (YPPs) continue to facilitate monthly school clubs.
- A First Aid training was conducted for 6 teachers.
- 26 new students applied for secondary school sponsorship through LCA’s partnership with Kenya Education Fund (KEF).

Income generating activities
Build capacity of community members
- Through the Development in Gardening agricultural training program, five school gardens have now been established in collaboration with school faculty and students.
- Trainings were conducted in Q2 on farm profitability and business cycles, nutrition and gardening, and table banking.
- Three “widows groups” were created as a forum for widows to lend resources to one another through table banking.

Increase impact of health outreach programs
Community Based Outreach
- Community Health Workers (CHWs) are reaching out to all households with pregnant women and children under 5 under the “Thrive thru 5” program. A total of 1,857 households had been enrolled in the program by the end of Q2.
- 13 out of school Youth Peer Providers (YPPs) and 73 CHWs are actively generating demand for family planning services and distributing condoms in the community.
- A WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) promotion event was held with more than 400 community members in attendance. The participants were divided into small groups for meaningful discussion and education on WASH practices.

Background
& Objectives
Background
Lwala is a village of approximately 1,500 people near Lake Victoria in western Kenya. Within an hour’s walk, approximately 3,000 additional people live in nearby villages accessible by dirt roads. Poor physical infrastructure, including impassable roads during the rainy season, lack of electricity and lack of reliable drinking water, have helped to create a critical healthcare challenge in Lwala. The mission of the Lwala Community Hospital is to meet the holistic health needs of all members of the Lwala community.
Objectives
- Improve patient care and clinical operations
- Improve access and facility infrastructure
- Expand and improve quality of education programs
- Professionalize the organization through better policies and practices
- Properly procure and account for physical, financial, and human resources
- Increase impact of health outreach programs
- Build capacity of community members in income generating activities
- Improve programs through better communication and monitoring and evaluation

More
Photos
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Numbers
Served
The Lwala Community Hospital provided an average of 2,709 monthly patient visits or 8,127 for the quarter. An average of 46 babies were born each month at a health facility, a slight decrease from an average of 49/month in Q1. In Q2, there was a record high of 61 clients receiving IUDs compared to 9 the previous quarter.


More Reports on: Lwala Healthcare Project Archive
Country Page: Kenya
Initiative Page: Lwala Healthcare Project