{"id":327632,"date":"2015-10-12T04:00:12","date_gmt":"2015-10-12T02:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/ivory-coast-inauguration-of-the-new-medical-centre-in-man\/"},"modified":"2024-05-16T15:01:37","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T13:01:37","slug":"ivory-coast-inauguration-of-the-new-medical-centre-in-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/ivory-coast-inauguration-of-the-new-medical-centre-in-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Ivory Coast: inauguration of the new Medical Centre in Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"20151013EquipeCMS\"\u00abDuring these years I think I alone visited 50,000 patients,\u00bb<\/strong> says Dr. A. Carlo Montaguti, a focolarino doctor and Director of the Social Medical Centre of the little Focolare town in Man, Ivory Coast. \u00abI was a doctor in my country, Italy, but my practice was not so intense. Those who preceded me when there was still the war, told me before my departure: Carlo, if you don\u2019t treat them, no one else will.\u00bb The patients arrived also in the night. <\/strong>The health records were compiled in the apatam<\/em> (shed) in front of the hospital, and then they entered for the medical checkup by any of the three doctors of the centre, one of which is Muslim. The doctors prescribed the lab tests and got the results in about two hours. In a second visit, the diagnosis was done and the treatment prescribed. In the span of a morning one manages to get everything done. \u00abIt is not usual to have a lab for analysis in such a small centre in the suburbs,\u00bb Carlo continues; \u00abI worked for four years without a lab and it was really difficult.\u00bb Luc Dro, head of the laboratory, explained that being in a tropical zone, there is great need for studies on parasites that cause malaria and other endemic diseases, but the lab is able to perform a complete check-up. The centre also has a small pharmacy, where over a 100,000 consultations were registered. \u00abWe do all that is possible to put the patients at the core of our work <\/strong>– says Dr. Alavo Bazini \u2013 and this explains the great influx. It does not suffice to say \u201cthe medicines are free of charge,\u201d if the people are not satisfied. This is where the centre\u2019s originality lies.\u00bb When possible, there is also a cultural mediator who translates into the local tongues. \u00abWe also have the internet and wi-fi connection <\/strong>– explained Dr. Eliassa Sow \u2013 In this way we can do research work and cooperate with other doctors from afar.\u00bb Dr. Montaguti continues \u00abI came in 2004 \u2013 when the centre consisted of two tiny rooms for visits and one for medications. The people have appreciated our work especially because during the war in 2002, in the most difficult moments when all the foreigners were leaving the country, we decided to stay on, and risk our lives. They understood that we were there for them and this generated their trust. At times it came about that on a Monday, after the weekend break, the patients said: \u201dDoctor, I tried to endure in order to come to you.\u201d If their situation was not too serious, they preferred to wait another day and suffer a bit more, to be able to come here!\u00bb One of the strong points of the centre is also the healthcare team <\/strong>which is involved in the entire care process. When the political-military crisis ended and the situation in the region calmed down, the term of the centre was extended and in 2008 we moved into a new facility. \u00abIt seemed like a dream \u2013 Carlo recalls \u2013 but after two years with the influx of patients \u2013 more than 80 a day plus their relatives – quite a crowd! \u2013 the old structure could not take any more. And we continued to dream.\u00bb And so last 10 October, the new Focolare Social Medical Centre, <\/strong>opened last 7 September, was inaugurated <\/strong>in Man, a stone\u2019s throw from Mariapolis Victoria. It is a modern architecture for a facility of over 1,000 sq. m, with the addition of new services: 15 beds, a dentist\u2019s studio, a physiotherapy room, and new diagnostics equipment (ultrasound scans, hemoglobin electrophoresis and microbiology). In the last days the nutrition centre, previously located in the district of Libreville, was completed and transferred to cure infantile malnutrition.. <\/p>\n

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Video presentation of the Medical Centre (in French) https:\/\/vimeo.com\/141902777<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over 100,000 medical visits in seven years. Treatments for malaria, one of the endemic diseases of the tropical zones, and above all, a patient-centred vision. And the patients who say: doctor, I tried to endure to be able to come to you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[893],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-327632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-focolare-worldwide-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327632\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}