An X-Ray for Ilula

7Feb19

An X-Ray for Ilula

Since I arrived, a large portion of my personal time has been devoted to the x-ray need at Ilula Lutheran Hospital (ILH). Read on if you are wondering about why a hospital might need an x-ray machine.

I will start with a bit of history of which I was only vaguely aware. Over the years since I started coming to ILH with learners, I knew there was an old portable machine around. Once I saw it in the hallway of the old general ward, pushed to the side and looking forlorn. But I lost track of it. Until this year when I was in the “new” x-ray area. The room is about 5 years old and has been slowly made acceptable for a new installation. There sat the old machine! Dr. Benjamin Chota told me that it had been used as recently as 2012 when the Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission condemned it or at least shut it down. Dr. Benjamin said that in 2010, 500 x-rays were performed. I hope neither patient nor operator were harmed! He thinks a few more exams were performed in subsequent years. We brought our first students here in January 2011, but I do not recall seeing any x-rays.

An estimate of the number that will be performed in the future is somewhat difficult to forecast. A couple years ago, we tallied the number of patients that were sent to Iringa for x-rays. There were 169. We made some estimates generalized from that. With changes here that, we believe, is a severely understated number. Think traffic. Many more cars, trucks, motorcycles and now bijajis on the road with a concomitant number of increased accidents. This is only part of the issue. Many more medical patients are being seen, including 120-150 outpatients per day. Two years ago there were 7800 admissions and over 15,000 bed-days.

So how does a hospital work without an x-ray? I dunno. Shoulder to Shoulder has been working hard to raise the $100K+ to buy one. We are working with Rotary International and are hoping the Iringa Rotary Club will be the host club as we work with Rotary Clubs at home to raise funds for matching grants.

Leslie Pratt and Steve Moburg accompanied me to the Iringa Rotary two weeks in a row, once for an introduction and a second time to present our case to the club about having Iringa Rotary to be the in-country host for funding through Rotary International. The prospects look good. They graciously listened to my pitch and seem genuinely engaged and are willing to work on the project. The one objection they offered is that the Rotary International process takes a long time.

I am confidant the x-ray will happen, but it has been a long time coming!