Humanize the Earth!

Gulu, Uganda - Day 1 - Hospital Experience

This post was typed on 2Mar, but back-dated to appear on its day of the trip.

Gulu, Uganda - Day 1 (Monday)

• This morning we took a 5 hour bus ride from Kampala to Gulu on pretty rough roads. R had already had a fever on the airplane coming over and really wasn’t doing well when we arrived that the conference. She spent the afternoon in the motel room rather than attend the opening. As soon as evening news was finished, I left to go check on her. We decided pretty quickly that she needed to see a doctor. So …
• That night George Ovola drove us to the Gulu Independent Hospital around 9 or 10pm after he finished logistics for some conference participants that hadn’t registered.
• The intake proces at the desk took less than 5 minutes and she was in to see the doctor immediately while I paid the fee (about $6).
• The doctor took her vital signs and asked about her condition. He made a very quick diagnosis of ear infection and the beginnings of pneumonia. He asked to admit her and give her intravenous drugs. I was terrified. We asked about the needles and found them to be single-use (disposable). George also arranged for us to have a room with two beds so I could stay with her. By morning her fever was gone!
• To get her chest x-ray in the morning, the nurse led us down a hall and through the female ward (20+ women) to a fairly steep outside ramp to radiology, in another building. Again, very little waiting time for the x-ray to be taken and us to be led back to the room.
• A short time later the nurse came back to tell us R was discharged, where to pay (about $70 for the whole experience), and where to find the pharmacy (in the lobby).
• Overall, it was a very good experience. None of the African staff felt rushed to us the way we feel at medical establishments in the US. There were some mzungu staff we saw in the morning and they did feel rushed. Interesting.