Medical Imaging Suite Improves Diagnostic Ability

The cement block walls of the Medical Imaging Suite are under construction. The images attached to this report which were taken on July 13, 2023. The final structure will be a 230m² facility housing an x-ray room, an ultrasound/ECG room, and a CT or MRI scanning room. It is hoped that the facility will be finished by the end of October 2023. We anticipate that the x-ray machine will arrive soon after the construction is complete. The acquisition of the new x-ray equipment will be a critical step toward the Level I Mwandi hospital's application for Level II or Referral Hospital status in Zambia. At present, the hospital in Mwandi is the only one in its District and it serves a catchment area with over 40,000 people. The closest referral hospital to the Mwandi District is in Livingstone, Zambia and transportation to this hospital takes many hours of driving over pothole covered roads. Achieving Level II status will enable the Mwandi hospital to provide specialized and accessible medical services that are not available in the surrounding areas of Western Province Zambia. 

When the hospital achieves Level II status, the number of medical staff in Mwandi will increase and specialty services will be available, including dentistry, endoscopy, ophthalmology, and oncology. In addition, Mwandi hospital will become a medical training facility, thereby increasing the number of well-trained healthcare professionals in Zambia.

Thank you to our donors and partners for recognizing the healthcare needs in the Mwandi District of Western Province Zambia. In our next report, we hope that the x-ray portion of the Medical Imaging Suite is nearing completion.