Bolenge Hospital Progress Report

by Global Ministries | published on Oct 10, 2014

Update on the Bolenge Hospital in Democratic Republic of the Congo, which experienced an electrical fire in June, completely destroying the hospital’s main building and equipment.

Bolenge Hospital, located in the city of Bolenge in the Equatorial Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was built in 1928 the Community of Disciples of Christ in the Congo (CDCC), a partner church of Global Ministries for more than 100 years. Originally, the hospital was meant to be a simple dispensary for CDCC members and the surrounding Bolenge parish. As the community itself increased, however, the dispensary also grew bigger with the help of funding from Global Ministries. In 1984, the Equatorial Health System promoted the hospital to a General Hospital of Reference responsible for supervising other area health centers, which currently cover approximately 300,000 community members.

On June 13, 2006, at around 10:00pm, the Bolenge Hospital experienced an electrical fire, which completely destroyed the hospital’s main building and equipment. Community members worked hard to save the people inside the building before it was completely engulfed by flames, and no human lives were lost. The patients were brought to the homes of doctors, pastors, and others in the community and some were relocated to nearby Mbandaka. Currently, the hospital is operating out of an old building, with 18 doctors and nurses having returned to work. This older building is not equipped to handle Bolenge’s wide range of health issues and needs, and a proposal to reconstruct the burned hospital building and modernize the other buildings was presented.

With the help of funding from Global Ministries, work on the new temporary buildings has already been done. Carpentry and masonry work has begun, and many windows, doors and furnishings have been installed. A room to serve as a temporary pharmacy was built, and a temporary surgery area was erected. Also, with the funds donated by Global Ministries, rooms have been painted, employee and patient shelters have been built, and office supplies and tools have been purchased. Still to be addressed are some electrical cables which have yet to be installed, and materials for the surgery area which need to be purchased. More mattresses also need to be bought, and there is ongoing work to be done in the operating room, pharmacy, and two laboratories.

The longer-term proposal calls for a modernized building containing 150 beds, equipped to cover the health needs of the population and fight against endemic diseases. The current hospital employees will retain their jobs. The reconstruction is projected to take roughly three years to complete, with financial aid coming from several different partners, both local and abroad, and regular construction evaluations made two or three times each year.

Between July and September of 2006, a committee was created to evaluate the project’s progress and to make further plans. The committee members include three medical doctors from the CDCC, the Bolenge Community Health Inspector, and two members of the CDCC church. A model of the projected work has been made available to the General Secretary of the CDCC: the project involves the construction of 20 departments, 12 of which will serve particular health needs such as gynecology, pediatrics and internal medicine. The global cost for the project is just over $2.3 million.

The new, modernized hospital is expected to positively reinforce the presence and image of the church in the Bolenge area, as well as essentially benefit the health of those in need.

Although the needs of Bolenge Hospital remain high, important progress has already been made with the help of Global Ministries and its donors who care about ministry in the Democratic Republic of Congo.