Adventist church takes over Kibagabaga hospital management

Integrative Healthcare Rwanda (IHCR), a company owned by the Rwanda Union and the General Conference, has taken over the management of Kibagabaga hospital, aiming to upgrade it from a District hospital to a Level II Teaching Hospital for medical students and a regional medical tourism centre. The handover ceremony took place on Friday December 15. The Adventist School of Medicine (ASOME) opened registration for the first intake for medical school in the 2020/2021 academic year. Standing at the foothills of Masoro, Gasabo District in Kigali, the state-of-the-art medical school came to bridge the gap in the country’s education sector, most especially in the medical courses. ASOME is training physicians that will graduate with a Medical Doctor (MD) degree after a period of six and a half years. In addition, the faculty of Health Sciences provides a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Bachelor of Science in Midwifery. The university enjoys a good reputation locally and regionally for its track record in quality teaching. Currently, the university operates on three campuses - Masoro, Gishushu (in Kigali) and Karongi District in Western Province. The IHCR Vice President and Senior Advisor, Dr. Zeno Charles-Marcel, said that the partnership is bringing expertise from around the world to provide additional services of high quality in the hospital in addition to teaching medical school students. “Upgrading Kibagabaga into a teaching hospital requires special services. We will bring medical experts from around the world to provide training. The idea is to increase the capacity of Rwandans as we produce more medical specialists,” he said. Kibagabaga hospital, which is now 20 years old, serves over 879,504 people in Gasabo District. It offers services ranging from paediatricss, surgery, internal medicine, mental health, stomatology, physiotherapy, medical imaging, cardiology, mortuary services, and others. The facility has 271 medical and support staff and supervises 17 health centres, 43 health posts, and five ambulances. However, it has staff gaps of 260 workers, some specialties lacking equipment and skills but also limited space for beds and outpatient services. Geoffrey Kayonde, the IHCR Chief Executive Officer, said that the hospital will get more facilities. The upgrade includes construction of an emergency unit, ophthalmology, outpatient, and admission units, and a revamp of the main entrance gate. “The facilities will help patients who are seeking services from other hospitals that are far from Gasabo District. We will bring modern equipment to the hospital to improve service delivery. The emergency unit is not enough. We will have an imaging unit, outpatient unit and an upgraded ophthalmology unit,” he said. Magnifique Paulette, the hospital’s Director of Finance and Administration (DAF), reiterated that the new partnership and investments will enable the hospital to reduce the time patients spend in queues and seeking CT-Scan, and laboratory tests from other distant hospitals. The Minister of Health, Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, said that upgrading the hospital, training medical students, and increasing staff was a needed transformation to improve the health sector in the City of Kigali. “This will not only be an opportunity to train future health workers, but also an opportunity to offer high-level care, including specialties that did not exist at the hospital previously, he said.

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Adventist church takes over Kibagabaga hospital management