Newsletter: 2015 Financial Report

January 8, 2016

Dear Ministry Partners,

Warmest greetings and best wishes from the administrative team and staff of the Ganta Hospital family. We are genuinely pleased to give account of our stewardship at the Ganta United Methodist Hospital and to present our plans for 2016.  The year under review began with series of administrative transitions coupled with the burdens of repositioning the hospital within the post Ebola restoration plans and the hospital’s own inherited challenges.  We thank God Almighty for giving us strength and wisdom to be able to report the progress made thus far. While remaining committed to the ongoing renovation, service improvement and restoration works, our focus for 2016 is to promote and improve customer service at the hospital under the theme- “Compassionate Caregiving”.  With this plan, we are partnering with the Faith and Deeds Ministry to provide a wonderful, compassionate, Christ-centered Customer Service Training for our staff.

 

Emmanuel’s Story

My name is Emmanuel Kpon Saye, a registered Nurse. I was hired in September 2015 and I am honored to serve as Supervisor of the Diabetes Clinic of Ganta United Methodist Hospital. During the Ebola Crisis, our diabetes services were very limited.  We had to shut down our education, counseling, and follow-up services.  This situation caused many of our patients to develop complications.  My first day on job, I received 5 diabetes emergencies with all of them (patients) in diabetes ketone acidosis (DKA). Before admitting these five, we already had three (3) patients admitted with this same condition.

There are lots of myths about diabetes in Liberia. One myth is that diabetes is contagious.  Another is shrouded in superstition with the belief that diabetes is a curse on the individual.   Education about diabetes is important because many aren’t aware that it is a manageable illness.  We have resumes our daily counseling sessions, screening, and vigorous diabetes health education both in the clinic and during weekly chapel teaching time. We also invite patients’ relatives and primary care givers for clinic health awareness.

Mr. Louis Wehyee is one of my patients.  Afraid of “catching diabetes”, his wife left their home when he was diagnosed with diabetes in January 2015.  At his request, I invited Mrs. Wehyee to listen in on our health talks and take part in our awareness sessions at the clinic.  Gradually she began to understand diabetes and she returned home to her husband and children.  I felt very fulfilled and humbled!  What came to my mind is that compassionate care brings holistic fulfillment to the healthcare giver and the patients being served.

Services Provided:

The following treatment areas/services are provided: Out Patient/Ambulatory Care Clinic, Dental Clinic, Diabetes Clinic, HIV/Aids Clinic, Mental Health Services, Community-Based Primary Health Care, Orthopedic Clinic, Surgical Services, X-ray and Ultrasonography services, Emergency/ Triage, Laboratory, Prenatal Clinic, Labor and Delivery and In-patient Wards.

Progress / Achievements, 2015:

  • Salary arears inherited from 2014 for 2 months were paid. Salary payment is current as of December, 2015;
  • Revamped the sanitary condition and general facelift of the hospital. IPC (Infection Prevention and Control) assessment teams from Ministry of Health and other organizations/agencies graded us in poor IPC compliance during the first half of 2015.  Revisits of the various IPC teams gave us very favorable marks;
  • The renovation work on the physical structures of the hospital is very improved. We have replaced the window screens, patched roof leakages, painted most of the walls, retiled most of the ward floors, renovated the bathrooms and created some bathrooms where they were non-existent, repaired and/or replaced ceiling tiles, and improved the deplorable plumbing conditions;
  • Improved fiscal and material management by hiring an experienced Chief Accountant in November 2015. The Chief Accountant is effectively implementing a Board approved fiscal management plan;
  • Drug Revolving Fund Scheme established and functioning well, thanks to Imagine No Malaria grant funding;
  • We are in compliance with our 2015 Operational Plan and have begun work on our 2016 Operational Plan;
  • Our staff redundancy plan is on course, we were able to lay off 12 of the 35 staff in August. Total follow through with this plan is dependent upon fund availability to pay the targeted staff their redundancy benefits;
  • We are in the ongoing process of identifying cost effective ways to cut costs in the face of limited budget. To this, we are utilizing our land resources by identifying trees that can be sawed into lumber to make furniture.
  • We are in the process of renovating and expanding our Record Room to enable electronic record keeping;
  • We created a website (gantahospital.com);
  • We have decreased our outstanding debt burden (accumulated prior to 2015) by $18,500.00 USD;
  • Imagine No Malaria funds helped us achieve our goal of establishing a Drug Revolving Fund and upgrade our laboratory diagnostic capabilities;
  • Christian Dental College supported our dental services by sending a dental surgeon;
  • We have strengthened our internal and external partnership support connections.

 

Partners contributions:

All these achievements outlined above could not have been possible without the support of our partners:

Local Partners:

  • Gompa District Churches provided local food items throughout the year to the hospital to feed our patients;
  • Nimba County Administration donated $20,000.00USD from the County Social Development Fund to help with our renovation efforts. This was used to expand our Record Room;
  • Ministry of Health (MOH) supported with post-Ebola restoration fund ($300,000.00 USD), 1 ambulance, and 1 standby generator. Through its County Health office, MOH provides support for training, vaccines, HIV Aids supplies; and malaria medicines/supplies;
  • The Government of Liberia (through pronouncement from the Law Makers) allotted $250,000.00 USD as subsidy to the hospital for the 2015 – 2016 fiscal year;
  • District #1 Representative, Hon. Jeremiah Kpain Khong, personally donated a used ambulance to the hospital
  • The Chief Justice of Liberia, Hon. Francis Korkpor, continues to provide 100 gallons of diesel fuel monthly. This is a blessing because our fuel consumption is so huge such that our operational fund cannot absorb all;
  • Christian Health Assoc. of Liberia (CHAL) contributed cash, training support, commitment to construct a fence, construction of a permanent triage and incinerator, renovation of post-partum unit, and drugs contributions ;
  • International Medical Corps (IMC) provided training for our midwives and essential medicines and equipment;
  • Africare provided financial support for our community based primary healthcare program;
  • Project Concern International (PCI) provided materials and labor to paint and sanitize our Eye Center and electrical wiring to extend our electrical access throughout our compound;
  • Plan Liberia provided mattresses for our hospital beds;
  • Faith and Deeds Ministry provided Customer Service assessment and support with the goal of conducting intensive customer service training in 2016.

External Partners:

We are humbled by our church’s mandate to provide Christ-centered, quality (but affordable) health care for a population of over 450,000.  As a not-for-profit organization, Ganta Hospital cannot afford to solely rely on the local intake that are not regular.  Further, the hospital’s “affordable” fee-for-service falls far below the costs of services provided.  Even with the minimum charges, some of the struggling rural subsistence farming families cannot afford to pay the full amount. Therefore, the management is mostly left with no alternative but to waive those fees. This situation requires that the hospital seek external supports to mitigate this gap in revenue generation while also realizing management must be creative in identifying self-sustaining services in the hospital to minimize reliance on outside supports. We are therefore pleased to report that contributions (of funds, supplies, equipment, etc.) from our partners helped keep the hospital stable and fully operational for the reporting period:

  • Global Health/Imagine No Malaria
  • General Board of Global Ministries Advance Special and all local churches and individuals supporting our Advance Special (#15080N)
  • East Ohio Conference
  • North Carolina Conference
  • Illinois Great River Conference
  • Rocky Mountain Conference
  • Stop Hunger Now
  • Curamericas Global
  • Germany and other European Partners (led by Mr. Siegfried Ziegler)
  • Virginia Conference
  • Baltimore Washington Conference
  • Indiana Conference/Operation Classroom
  • Detroit Conference
  • World Diabetes Foundation
  • Life For A Child (diabetes treatment support)
  • Christian Dental College- Ludihana
  • Plan International

Sustainability strategies for 2016:

  • Strengthen our fiscal and material management protocols;
  • Strengthen our pharmacy management through the ongoing improvement of our Drug Revolving Fund Scheme;
  • Upgrading our diagnostic capabilities in the laboratory and radiology departments;
  • Recruiting an experienced OB/GYN specialist to head the Maternal and Child Health Unit;
  • Continuing our building improvement (renovation and grounds).

 

Challenges/Opportunities to support us:

  • The systemic deplorable plumbing condition of the hospital requires urgent attention. The 1926 plumbing has outlived its usefulness and needs present-day plumbing materials. Even though we have improved the bathrooms by replacing fixtures, tiling and flooring, most of the departments and bathrooms are still without water running through the sinks and commodes;
  • The hospital has 8 separate buildings, some of which still maintain the roofing done in 1945. Every year we do patching repairs on the roofs and replace the ceiling tiles damaged by the leakages. This approach is not cost effective. With the pending rainy season (April through October), replacing the clay tile roofs has become urgent and necessary;
  • There is a need for a volunteer bio-medical engineer to come and repair our malfunctioning bio medical equipment and install other donated equipment that we have not been able to get a technician to do. A staff person will work alongside the volunteer so he/she can learn how to maintain the repairs/installations;
  • To support our ongoing electronic reporting and tracking systems, there is need for a volunteer IT specialist to come and help us establish maintenance protocols for our computerized equipment;
  • Our outstanding debt burden ($233,000.00 USD) accumulated prior to 2015 is an ongoing concern.

                                                            

 2015  Statistics

Data Description Grand Total
Out Patient Department 25933
Total Inpatient Admissions 4532
Total Births (# of babies delivered) 1225
General Surgeries 1389
Total Orthopedic Cases 1563
Dental Services 820
X-Ray Examinations 659
HIV Test done 1665
HIV Test Positive 61
Total persons that accessed the laboratory 19273
Total seen in Diabetes Clinic 843
Total malaria cases treated 5998
Total deaths 204
Total catchment communities 96
Total patients from Guinea 268
Total patients from Ivory Coast 1

  

2015 Financial Overview (Stated in USD)

Month Beginning Balance Registration& Admission Pharmacy(Drugs) General Surgery Laborartory Other Income *External Fund Total Income Total Expenses Variance
Jan-15   14,815.02            2,564.38       8,716.19      15,152.04         1,148.69       2,027.38     59,981.11       104,404.81         57,223.33          47,181.48
Feb-15                –            2,553.13       7,205.81      11,706.17         1,111.25       2,912.78     60,718.75         86,207.89         88,313.75          (2,105.86)
Mar-15                –            2,549.38       8,856.94      10,648.48         1,297.63       2,955.27   155,262.88       181,570.58       111,076.96          70,493.62
Apr-15                –            2,553.13     10,148.50      14,289.54         1,427.13       2,899.00       8,000.00         39,317.30         99,487.85        (60,170.55)
May-15                –            2,541.88     13,425.31      14,317.06         1,936.31       3,192.01     23,627.60         59,040.17         57,268.95            1,771.22
Jun-15                –            2,534.38     14,487.38      12,094.73         1,793.88       3,230.82   173,653.75       207,794.94         82,040.56        125,754.38
Jul-15                –            2,518.72     11,903.94      21,719.97         1,540.47       3,309.49     68,488.00       109,480.58       122,802.73        (13,322.14)
Aug-15                –            2,732.84     12,118.47      12,483.64         1,566.06       3,080.49       5,673.20         37,654.69         80,743.36        (43,088.67)
Sep-15                –            3,131.13     13,201.19      15,730.50         1,736.88       3,677.13     22,399.00         59,875.81         64,110.44          (4,234.63)
Oct-15                –            2,835.40     11,598.64      11,886.48         1,704.49       2,622.95     20,000.00         50,647.96         80,024.36        (29,376.40)
Nov-15                –            2,596.77       7,686.08      12,343.33         1,061.70       1,322.90     29,047.00         54,057.78         77,989.79        (23,932.01)
Dec-15                –            2,805.86     11,143.24      10,062.99         1,515.63       2,395.00     42,206.00         70,128.71         68,138.10  

1,990.62

Total   14,815.02          31,916.99  

  130,491.68

   162,434.93       17,840.11     33,625.21   669,057.29    1,060,181.23       989,220.17          **70,961.05

 

NOTES:  *  Includes a one-time Ministry of Health (government) grant of $300,000.00 USD

               **  Balance carried forward to 2016: USD $70,961.05  (36% is general funds and 64% is designated funds)

 

SUPPORT OUR WORK

 

We invite you to support our Ganta Hospital Advance Special #15080N. 

Please consider coming as a volunteer and share your presence and expertise which strengthens our health care delivery. We love hosting you and building long lasting relationships.  We are thankful to all our partners and to our dear Bishop, Rev. Dr. John G. Innis, our UMC leadership staff, and our UMC Health Board leadership for all the support and guidance. Together, our mission can be fulfilled.  Please keep us in prayers and may the good Lord bless and guide all of us!!

 

Sincerely,

Patrick M. Mantor

pmantorm@gmail.com

Advance Number 15080N  (www.umcmissio

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