Moving closer to implementing Maternity services

With the new building open, we are working together to recruit more professional staff and purchase essential equipment for our new Maternal and Child Health building.

Denise Nicholls,  a midwife from Perth, Western Australia has moved to Kitgum to live, along with her husband Richard.
Her full time presence will be invaluable as Yotkom  seeks to establish  a very special,  and safe place for mothers and babies to be received and cared for in this rural area of Northern Uganda .
Jo Hardcastle , midwife from Wesley Hospital Brisbane has also been in Uganda helping us establish clear best practice clinical guidelines, policies and procedures for women in pregnancy, labour and after delivery.

On July 1, an experienced  Ugandan midwife, Mary will join Yotkom as our head of Midwifery.

Over the next few months we aim to  start anaesthetic services , establish a blood bank and ensure we have 24 hour doctor and midwife cover at Yotkom.

We are currently urgently seeking donor  funds for essential equipments which include:

An anaesthetic machine                        $ 25,000 AUS
A birthing bed                                        $ 5000
An operating theatre bed                        $10,000

As you can see,right now we have an amazing empty operating theatre which is just waiting to be set up.

Please consider helping us to reduce death rates amongst mothers and babies here in Uganda by donating to Yotkom
Ways you can give  are outlined on  this  web site in the right hand column .

All gifts in Australia are tax deductible.

Thank you !

The New Hospital Opens

At the end of April we officially took possession of the second stage construction of the Yotkom Medical Centre in Kitgum. 

The new building provides admission wards  for 50 patients , a Maternal and Child Health facility with antenatal unit, two labour wards and a second operating theatre.  We also have a new meeting / teaching  room and administration area plus a dedicated vaccination room .

The covered balconies provide a lot of cool shaded places for our patients to rest and recuperate .

Our overcrowded original outpatient building will continue to function and will now have additional space for a dedicated dental consulting room and possible future day surgery and expanded pathology laboratory .

We have some beautiful murals painted by Joshua, a local African artist and some photos from Australia to hang on the walls and remind us of the  partnerships and donors who made this facility possible , most especially the Gateway Baptist Church in Brisbane.