These are the health-care workers at Kabila Health Center. There is one clinician, 3 nurses, 3 nurse aides and 1 lab technician to run the entire facility, which includes a maternity ward, general ward, child health clinic, adult health clinic and a HIV clinic. Needless to say, they are understaffed and overworked.
The one clinician, Simon (front row, 2nd on the right), is constantly running around the health center. During days when I visit Kabila, I sit with Simon to see the HIV patients, but it’s not uncommon for him to be called to see patients on the wards, or to arrange transportation for a sick patient to go to the nearest level-up facility. Since he is the only clinician, he is also on-call every night and throughout the weekend to manage any sick patients. With only 3 years of basic training, Simon is responsible of caring from infants to geriatrics.
Because of the lack of health-care providers and the extensive time needed to become a doctor, producing a fast-track of clinicians is one way the country has tried to fill the void of health-care providers. Unfortunately, many are like Simon: completely overwhelmed by the great need each day on the job.
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