With the ceremonial inauguration of new operating theaters and other medical facilities at the Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, a joint project of the Stiftung Kinderchirurgie (Pediatric Surgery Foundation) and its Ethiopian partners has reached a significant milestone. The new structures will sustainably strengthen pediatric surgical care in Southern Ethiopia.
Building on the first project of the Stiftung Kinderchirurgie eight years ago, our team was once again in Hawassa to further expand and sustainably strengthen pediatric surgical care together with our long-standing partners at the Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital.
The focus of the mission was complex pediatric surgical procedures and the further strengthening of the Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Units (NICU and PICU). After an outpatient clinic with around 15 children, the first operations could already be carried out. Among others, children with Hirschsprung's disease, duodenal atresia, and an anorectal malformation were treated. Particularly impressive was the care of a newborn just 22 days old, with a birth weight of 2.7 kilograms, who weighed only 1.9 kilograms at the time of the operation.
A special highlight of the mission was the ceremonial inauguration of the new surgical facilities at the Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital.
Together with representatives of the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, the Sidama Regional Government, the hospital management, and numerous guests from the healthcare sector, a milestone was celebrated that will sustainably improve medical care for children in Southern Ethiopia. Among other things, the new medical gas supply system, the central operating area with two pediatric surgical operating theaters, and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit were inaugurated. The Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) is also already successfully in operation. Around 90 percent of the technical equipment is now ready for use.
