I am committed to bringing up a healthy child - Kajumba
Jul 31, 2011
YOU may have been asking yourself who is behind the St. Catherine clinics in Kampala. The clinics have since expanded into a hospital to include the newly-launched Healthy Child Clinic <b>Agnes Kyotalengerire</b> caught up with the proprietor, Dr. Eva Kajumba Muganga, for a one-on-one:
YOU may have been asking yourself who is behind the St. Catherine clinics in Kampala. The clinics have since expanded into a hospital to include the newly-launched Healthy Child Clinic Agnes Kyotalengerire caught up with the proprietor, Dr. Eva Kajumba Muganga, for a one-on-one:
question: How long has St. Catherine been in existence and what has fostered its growth from just a clinic to a hospital, and now a healthy clinic?
ANSWER: St. Catherine has been in existence since 1983. I attribute its growth to the vision which is to preserve and improve children’s life.
Why the need for a healthy child clinic when you already have a children’s clinic?
The objectives are different. The hospital, which caters for both children and adults is purely curative, while the healthy child clinic aims at assessing children and monitoring their growth. When we identify any healthy condition in the course of assessment, we refer them for treatment.
Many people are turned away from private health centres due to exorbitant consultation fees, among other costs. How have you handled this aspect?
At the hospital, patients pay a consultation fee of sh20,000 to see a general doctor, sh40,000 to see a paediatrician and sh50,000 to see an ear, nose and throat specialist.
However, to access the services at the health child clinic, you have to be a member. The registration fee is sh300,000 per year for the first three children in a family. The subsequent children pay sh150,000 each.
This entitles each child to one visit in four months, during which the child gets a physical examination and laboratory tests. The records are kept. In addition, we advise the caretakers on how best to care for their children.
We also carry out immunisations. We charge a fee for the vaccines that the Government recommends but has not stocked, for instance the rota virus (diarrhoea) and pneumococco (pneumonia) vaccines.
These are recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) but not yet on the standard schedule of the Ministry of Health. We purchase these vaccines from a private pharmaceutical laboratory around town. But we give the standard vaccines provided by the health ministry for free and these include; BCG, DPT and measles.
We charge sh70,000 and sh130,000 for the rota virus and pneumococco vaccines, respectively.
Do you have an admission unit and does it operate 24 hours?
We do admissions at the hospital, and operate 24 hours. At the healthy child clinic, our major aim is healthy promotion and prevention of diseases as opposed to the first clinic which is for curing diseases. We can admit 30 patients, including children and adults.
We run an out-patient clinic in the New Taxi Park in addition to the St. Catherine Clinic on Buganda Road.
Do you handle emergencies and complications such epilepsy?
The hospital attends to emergencies. If we cannot handle the condition, we refer the patient to the nearby hospital, for example Mulago Hospital.
We handle epilepsy for stabilising and diagnosis, but when the patient has stabilised, we refer him or her to Mulago Hospital. We have an ambulance that transfers our patients free of charge to bigger hospitals. However, we charge a fee if one calls in case of an emergency requesting for an ambulance outside the clinic.
What are the common ailments?
The common conditions at the hospital include; malaria, diarrhoea, urinary tract infections, respiratory tract infections, anaemia due to sickle cells or other complications. Others are malnutrition, obesity and occasionally worm infestations and allergies.
The rare cases conditions include; convulsions, infections of the ear, measles, meningitis, surgical conditions for example intestinal obstruction, foreign bodies, home accidents like paraffin poisoning, fractures, ear and nose throat problems like tonsillitis, and stroke.
What age group do you target?
The health child clinic register children from newborns to 18-year-olds. The sick clinic is open to everybody though originally it handled paediatric cases. Our plan is to put the youth in groups so that we handle their challenges separately. We plan to address issues such as HIV/AIDS, drug abuse, sex education, menstruations and body image.
How is the human resource determined and managed?
Human resource is determined by need. Most of the staff is trained in managing health and the number depends on the population of the patients.
Our specialists include paediatricians, gynaecologists, nurses, midwives and a dentist who are permanent at the facility. The ear, nose and throat specialist, as well as nutritionists, surgeons and counsellors come on appointment.
What is your background training and how long have you practised as a paediatrician? Are you full-time at the hospital?
I am a medical doctor and a specialist paediatrician. I started practising in 1976 as a medical doctor working at Mulago Hospital.
After internship, I enrolled for a post-graduate in paediatrics and child care for three years. I remained working at the medical school in the department of paediatrics and child care as a lecturer until 1983 when I joined the private practice up to date. I serve full time at the clinic.
What are the challenges of running this private facility, and how do you hope to overcome them?
Managing human resource has been my biggest challenge since in the past doctors were not trained in human resource management until recently when the course was incorporated as a course unit.
The other challenge has been managing of finances. I used to run into problems until I set up a financial department. I sit with the department to budget and closely monitor the facility. The other challenge is being a private facility, patients expect too much from us.
How many children do you hope to help in the healthy child clinic?
Our target is to have about 1,000 children in the next five years
What is your succession plan, especially now that you have expanded?
To build a team and to encourage patients in the healthy child clinic to trust the team rather than me alone.
question: How long has St. Catherine been in existence and what has fostered its growth from just a clinic to a hospital, and now a healthy clinic?
ANSWER: St. Catherine has been in existence since 1983. I attribute its growth to the vision which is to preserve and improve children’s life.
Why the need for a healthy child clinic when you already have a children’s clinic?
The objectives are different. The hospital, which caters for both children and adults is purely curative, while the healthy child clinic aims at assessing children and monitoring their growth. When we identify any healthy condition in the course of assessment, we refer them for treatment.
Many people are turned away from private health centres due to exorbitant consultation fees, among other costs. How have you handled this aspect?
At the hospital, patients pay a consultation fee of sh20,000 to see a general doctor, sh40,000 to see a paediatrician and sh50,000 to see an ear, nose and throat specialist.
However, to access the services at the health child clinic, you have to be a member. The registration fee is sh300,000 per year for the first three children in a family. The subsequent children pay sh150,000 each.
This entitles each child to one visit in four months, during which the child gets a physical examination and laboratory tests. The records are kept. In addition, we advise the caretakers on how best to care for their children.
We also carry out immunisations. We charge a fee for the vaccines that the Government recommends but has not stocked, for instance the rota virus (diarrhoea) and pneumococco (pneumonia) vaccines.
These are recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) but not yet on the standard schedule of the Ministry of Health. We purchase these vaccines from a private pharmaceutical laboratory around town. But we give the standard vaccines provided by the health ministry for free and these include; BCG, DPT and measles.
We charge sh70,000 and sh130,000 for the rota virus and pneumococco vaccines, respectively.
Do you have an admission unit and does it operate 24 hours?
We do admissions at the hospital, and operate 24 hours. At the healthy child clinic, our major aim is healthy promotion and prevention of diseases as opposed to the first clinic which is for curing diseases. We can admit 30 patients, including children and adults.
We run an out-patient clinic in the New Taxi Park in addition to the St. Catherine Clinic on Buganda Road.
Do you handle emergencies and complications such epilepsy?
The hospital attends to emergencies. If we cannot handle the condition, we refer the patient to the nearby hospital, for example Mulago Hospital.
We handle epilepsy for stabilising and diagnosis, but when the patient has stabilised, we refer him or her to Mulago Hospital. We have an ambulance that transfers our patients free of charge to bigger hospitals. However, we charge a fee if one calls in case of an emergency requesting for an ambulance outside the clinic.
What are the common ailments?
The common conditions at the hospital include; malaria, diarrhoea, urinary tract infections, respiratory tract infections, anaemia due to sickle cells or other complications. Others are malnutrition, obesity and occasionally worm infestations and allergies.
The rare cases conditions include; convulsions, infections of the ear, measles, meningitis, surgical conditions for example intestinal obstruction, foreign bodies, home accidents like paraffin poisoning, fractures, ear and nose throat problems like tonsillitis, and stroke.
What age group do you target?
The health child clinic register children from newborns to 18-year-olds. The sick clinic is open to everybody though originally it handled paediatric cases. Our plan is to put the youth in groups so that we handle their challenges separately. We plan to address issues such as HIV/AIDS, drug abuse, sex education, menstruations and body image.
How is the human resource determined and managed?
Human resource is determined by need. Most of the staff is trained in managing health and the number depends on the population of the patients.
Our specialists include paediatricians, gynaecologists, nurses, midwives and a dentist who are permanent at the facility. The ear, nose and throat specialist, as well as nutritionists, surgeons and counsellors come on appointment.
What is your background training and how long have you practised as a paediatrician? Are you full-time at the hospital?
I am a medical doctor and a specialist paediatrician. I started practising in 1976 as a medical doctor working at Mulago Hospital.
After internship, I enrolled for a post-graduate in paediatrics and child care for three years. I remained working at the medical school in the department of paediatrics and child care as a lecturer until 1983 when I joined the private practice up to date. I serve full time at the clinic.
What are the challenges of running this private facility, and how do you hope to overcome them?
Managing human resource has been my biggest challenge since in the past doctors were not trained in human resource management until recently when the course was incorporated as a course unit.
The other challenge has been managing of finances. I used to run into problems until I set up a financial department. I sit with the department to budget and closely monitor the facility. The other challenge is being a private facility, patients expect too much from us.
How many children do you hope to help in the healthy child clinic?
Our target is to have about 1,000 children in the next five years
What is your succession plan, especially now that you have expanded?
To build a team and to encourage patients in the healthy child clinic to trust the team rather than me alone.