A new pediatric facility has been inaugurated at Kibogora Hospital in Nyamasheke District to enhance health care provision to children.

The facility with eight main wards and 68 beds was commissioned on Wednesday.

It also has an emergency room, an isolation room for patients with contagious diseases, two private wards, a children’s dining room, two dressing rooms, and five treatment stations, among other things.

The facility worth over Rwf200 million has capacity to receive 80 children per day.

It was built through a funding consortium called ‘Better Together.’

Speaking during the inauguration ceremony, the Kibogora Hospital Director, Dr Damien Nsabimana said, "The building can accommodate more children. It has modern equipment, including beds and inhalers for children with respiratory complications,” he said.

He said there was a lot of congestion in the old ward which could only accomodate 35 beds.

The Central Africa Health Care Organisation (CAHO) representative, Dr Gylen Albert Snyder observed that proper care for children was crucial.

"We are happy that they have this beautiful facility to ensure children get even better care.”

Esther Bankundiye, a resident of Macuba Sector whose child was admitted at the Kibogora Hospital said the new facility is a big relief.

"We are very happy, previously, conditions were awful with three children sharing a bed with their mothers.

Children and parents could easily contract diseases due to congestion but now patients are admitted in separate wards according to their ailments,” she said.

Agnes Uwiragiye, another resident from Gihombo Sector said patients used to share a bed but now everyone has their own bed and a mosquito net.

It is a clean place, medics are taking care of us accordingly, she said.

The district hospital serves 240,000 people from nine of the 15 sectors making up the Nyamasheke District. It works with 13 health centres.

It has capacity of 258 beds and 238 staff, including 14 medical doctors and 80 nurses as well as 20 paramedicals.

Nsabimana cited infrastructure and understaffing amid growing number of patients among their challenges.

He said last year, the hospital received 141, 385 patients of whom 14,500 including over 2,800 children were inpatients.

He noted that the new pediatric building is in line with the hospital’s master plan which was approved by the Ministry of Health in 2012.

Under the Master plan, according to Nsabimana, almost the entire hospital’s buildings including the maternity ward and neonatology, the threater, emergency unit and private rooms, internal medicine as well as a medics’ training hall would get a facelift.

The Western Province Governor, Caritas Mukandasira promised provincial and district support to the hospital to ensure it gets more modern facilities, including a maternity ward.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw