Ken Wickward and Loren Clausen, CRNA at St. John’s Lutheran Hospital, load an Anesthesia machine destined for the western Africa country of Sierra Leone. Photo courtesy St. John's Lutheran Hospital.
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St. John's Hospital donates anesthesia machine
To Magbenteh Community Hospital in Sierra Leone
January 4, 2007
St. John’s Lutheran Hospital in Libby donated an anesthesia machine to the Magbenteh Community Hospital in the western African nation of Sierra Leone.
The donation was the brainchild of Harald Pfeiffer of the Swiss-Sierra Leone Development Foundation. Pfeiffer, an acquaintance of Ken Wickward of St. John’s Lutheran Hospital in Libby, initiated the search for the equipment after witnessing an emergency operation in the Magbenteh Hospital, which was performed without anesthesia. Wickward and Clausen worked closely with Pfeiffer to help provide this equipment to the local and visiting physicians from North America and Europe working in Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone is located in western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Liberia. It is a country slightly smaller than South Carolina, with approximately 6 million people. It is a poor nation with a mostly agricultural-based economy and mineral resources. The government is slowly reestablishing its authority after the 1991 to 2002 civil war that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people, about one third of the population. The country continues to suffer from deteriorating political and economic conditions that challenge progress in Sierra Leone’s stability. According to the CIA World Factbook, the life expectancy of men in Sierra Leone is 38 years of age and 42 years for women.
Related Links:
St. John's Lutheran Hospital, www.sjlh.com
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