Mike’s Liberia Journal #1
January 2020
I arrived into Liberia just in time to spend another New Year’s Eve here. That makes four in a row. Although I miss spending the holiday with my friends in the States, this is a fun way to spend it. This is a huge holiday here. Unlike the States, the real holiday is January 1st (not the night before). Other than folks at church, New Year’s Eve is quiet at midnight. New Year’s Day, everyone is out on the town or having cookouts.
A lot has happened since my last trip and journal. I kept trying to write an interim one from the States but just couldn’t get it done. One day here and I’m back to writing. So…what has happened since I left…
Hospital Administration –
Shortly after my last journal, my friend Megan called me and wanted to come over and work at our hospital. Megan and I go back a ways. She’s a nurse who has spent most of her career working as a hospital administrator in the international sector, particularly in Sudan. She also worked in Liberia before I ever visited. There could not have been a better time for her to reach out. Since we decided to open this hospital we have acknowledged that a key to success would be having a reliable hospital administrator. Unfortunately, this is a position with which none of our team have experience. Megan is a veteran hospital administrator specializing in resource-limited environments like Liberia. She agreed to come over for three months and see what she could do. This was a miracle for us.
Megan arrived a few days before I departed in August. I was able to show her around and hand over the keys. Over the next three months, she pushed the hospital into a state we did not expect to reach for at least a year. By October, we had an immunization center, full protocols for the management of all common diseases in Liberia, weekly continuing education programs, regular meetings with the local community leaders, and had two inpatient wards that were ready to open. She also identified a Liberian administrator, Mr. Isaac Mitchell, and trained him to be her replacement.
The most impressive part about her accomplishments? Their sustainability. Megan left in October and I arrived this week. All of these processes/procedures are still in top shape and Mr. Mitchell is working out perfectly. We plan to open the inpatient ward this month.
Along with administrative improvements, the hospital has also improved its patient volume. We have nearly doubled the number of patients per day we see compared to August. Opening the inpatient ward will push these numbers even higher.
Liberia –
Unfortunately, the economy in Liberia has continued to decline since August. While the value of the Liberian dollar has not decreased, its availability has. Banks are short on money, people can’t make withdrawals…financially, things are just frozen.
There is also a bit of political unrest. There have been monthly strikes due to salaries not being paid and opposition groups to the current government have been holding frequent protests that shut down transportation and commerce. There is a sizeable protest scheduled for this coming Monday that may make it quite difficult to get around. Fortunately, I will be working at the hospital all of next week and won’t need to go anywhere.
It is great to be back and I look forward to a month here. My main goal is to get the inpatient ward up and running to the standard Megan set for us since I left. This will require hiring and training some new folks and probably some late nights in the hospital. The other priority is preparing the RT school for the Spring semester. The semester starts in February and we have been very fortunate to receive some scholarships from donors in the States to allow us to take in more students. This is especially valuable right now since the economy has made tuition payments very challenging.
