The Big Picture

For many years the doctors and nurses of Fistula Hospital have been traveling to regional hospitals to operate on fistula victims who cannot make the journey to Addis Ababa.

In order to address the needs of the many women in the provinces who require fistula care and to prevent fistulas, the Fistula Hospital has opened four permanent mini-fistula hospitals in strategic locations in Ethiopia (Bahir Dar, Mekele, Yirgalem and Harar) with a fifth to open in Metu in the future.

Each mini-fistula hospital will include a 20-40 bed ward, an operating theatre, educational and administrative facilities, as well as other essential plant facilities.

The mini-fistula hospitals will be built adjacent to existing regional hospitals and will offer a discrete entrance for fistula patients and high-risk women who might otherwise be turned away at the main hospital gates.

Mini-Fistula Hospital Mission

The purpose of the mini-fistula hospitals is threefold:

Treatment – A resident obstetrician-gynecologist will provide specialized fistula repair surgery to local women who cannot make the trip to Addis Ababa. A surgical team from Fistula Hospital will visit the mini-fistula hospital periodically to treat those women whose fistulas are too severe to be repaired by the resident surgeon.

Prevention – High-quality emergency obstetric care will be made available free of charge to women at high risk of obstructed labor. Women at high risk include those with prior fistula repair surgeries and women who are short, young, or disabled.

Education – Reproductive health education programs utilizing videos, radio broadcasts, and live theatrical performances will be brought to the communities surrounding the satellite sites. In addition, the mini-fistula hospitals will operate as hubs for Traditional Birth Attendants and other health professionals to educate the local populations about the risks of unattended childbirth.

Progress Update (March 2009)

Four mini-hospitals are currently treating patients.  In May 2005 the first mini-hospital opened in Bahir Dar, 340 miles northwest of Addis Ababa. Dr. Andrew Browning, a long time surgeon with the Fistula Hospital, is running the center which is expected to serve nearly 400 women a year. In February 2006 the second mini-hospital opened in Mekele, 466 miles North of Addis Ababa. The third mini-hospital in Yirgalem opened in November 2006.  Harrar, which was funded by Fistula Foundation donors, opened in May 2008 with Metu scheduled to open sometime in 2010.  The running cost for Harar in 2008/09 will be funded by the Fistula Foundation.