Welcome to Baptist Hospital Mutengene

Baptist Hospital Mutengene
Baptist Hospital Mutengene (BHM) offers medical, spiritual and psychosocial care. The hospital sees at least 8,000 patients per month with different health problems from various towns like Buea, Limbe, Tiko, Kumba, etc. in the South West Region, and Douala, Nkongsamba, etc. in the Littoral Region. The hospital started on January 24, 1994 as a Health Centre to meet the health needs of the growing population of Baptist Christians in the Fako Division of the South West Region, which had been seeking quality healthcare services with a spiritual touch. It finally became a full hospital in 2007 following decision No 1803/A/MSP/SG/DOSTS/SPSP/BFSPC of September 24, 2007 signed by Cameroon’s Minster for Public Health, Andre Mama Fouda. BHM operates 24/7.
Location
Baptist Hospital Mutengene (BHM) is situated 200m from the main road leaving Mutengene to Limbe (popularly called Limbe Road) in the Fako Division of the SW Region of Cameroon.
Staffing
The hospital has 224 permanent workers including nine permanent medical doctors (three specialist – a Dentist, an Othopaedist, Ophthalmologist and six General Practitioners) and eight screeners. The hospital also has 35 casual workers, thus bringing the total number to 259 staff of all categories.
Services
Baptist Hospital Mutengene offers its clients the following services:

Out-patient Services (Medical consultation)
In-patient Services (Hospitalization)
Dental Services
Eye Care
General Surgery
Treatment and Injection Services
Clinical imaging (Ultrasound, EGG and X-ray)
Pharmacy
Drugstore
HIV & AIDS Prevention and Care
Laboratory services
Physiotherapy
Maternity Services (including Reproductive Health/Family planning)
Tuberculosis clinic
Diabetes services
Burkitt’s Lymphomia services
Chaplaincy/Social services
Catering Services
Security Services
Maintenance services
Projects
Contact us

Out-patient Services (Medical consultation)
Out-patient services in Baptist Hospital Mutengene are well developed, speedy and qualitative. No matter the number of patients at any given time, the eight Screeners and nine Medical Doctors on seat offer them the best consultation possible. Cases requiring hospitalisation or observation are placed under in-patient care. The screeners work in close collaboration with the Doctors in the hospital in diagnosing patients’ problems to ensure that they receive appropriate treatment. Cases beyond the ability of the screeners are referred to the Doctors in the hospital who determine whether to offer full treatment on the spot or refer them to specialists in other health institutions. In general, out-patients receive consultation, prescription (sometimes after laboratory tests) and return home to continue with medications they have been prescribed. Most services offered in the hospital fall under this category.
In-patient Services (Hospitalization)
Baptist Hospital Mutengene has a bed capacity of 85 to accommodate cases that require hospitalisation. This category of patients include those on drips and/or under observation, surgical cases, serious accident victims, cases demanding close follow-up and monitoring, etc. Here, patients are offered 24/7 medical attention with a doctor available in case of aggravation.
Dental Services
The hospital has been offering dental care to clients since 1996. The Dental Department sees at least 300 clients a month with various dental problems up from 120 at creation. An average of 44 dental surgeries (35 major and nine minor) are carried out every month in the hospital. The department has one permanent Dental Surgeon (Dentist) assisted by two Dental Auxiliaries and one Dental Assistant. It is equipped with modern dental instruments that enable its committed staff to offer clients the following services:

Extraction
Fillings (Composite, Glass ionomer cement (Gic), Amalgam, etc)
Root Canal Therapy plus Apicectomy
Scaling and polishing (cleaning)
Prosthesis (Dentures, full and partial)
Minor oral surgeries (wiring, operculectomy, etc)
Dental X-ray service
Etc., etc.

Eye Care
The Eye Department in BHM is getting busier and busier as the population of the South West Region and its environs have realized that the quality of medical care in the department since creation in 1999 is unparalleled in the area. The department is the best furnished Eye Care unit in the SW Region with ultra modern machines used in detecting and handling all eye-related problems. It has a 17-bed ward for the observation of clients who have received eye surgery. The nine qualified permanent staff of the Eye Department and a resident Ophthalmologist sees an average of 900 patients a month with diverse eye problems up from 300 in 1999. Also, with the presence of the Ophthalmologist some eight Retinal surgeries are carried out every month since 2012. Services offered include the following:

Daily Consultations from Monday to Saturday
Monthly Eye Surgery carried out by a visiting Ophthalmologist from Mbingo Baptist Hospital. He carries out procedures like cataract extractions with intraocular lens implant (IOL) using the latest technique called Small Incision Cataract Surgery (SICS), Trabeculectomy for glaucoma patients, etc.
Optics for the edging, fitting and dispensing of glasses.
Community outreach to screen for eye problems. Minor cases receive on the spot treatment and major ones referred to the hospital.
Intra Vitral Avastin administration to help diabetic and hypertensive patients.
Etc.

General Surgery
Baptist Hospital Mutengene has carried out numerous surgeries since the Operating Room was set up in January 2005. According to statistics for 2012, the nine well-skilled Doctors and nurses in the department handle about 98 surgeries every month. Procedures carried out in the BHM Operating Room includes, but not limited to, the following:

Orthopaedic Surgery (Bone Surgery)
Tendon Repairs
Spine Sugery
Vein Stripping
Total Abdominal Hysterectomy
Caesarean Section
Herniorrhaphies
Appendectomies
Salpingoplasty
Salpingectomy (mostly on ectopic pregnancies)
Chest tube insertion and drainage
Biopsies
Adult male circumcision
Lapanatomies (bowel problems)
Lipomas and nodules excision and drainage
Dilation and curettage (DTC)
Haemorrhoidectomy
Hydrocoelectomy
Splenectomy
Removal of kidney/bladder stones
Tubal ligations (Post partum, Interval partum)
Orchidopexy
Skin grafts
Etc., etc.

Treatment and Injection Services
The Treatment and Injection Room of BHM serves as the minor surgical/ emergency unit of the hospital. It works in close collaboration with staff of the Operating Room when need arises. The Treatment and Injection Room receives at least 400 patients monthly. The procedures carried out here include the following among others:

Ulcer care
Toe nail extraction
Ear Irrigation
Neonatal circumcision (for male babies)
Foreign body removal
Suturing
Paracenthesis
Catheterisation
Tongue tie release
Incision and drainage
Podophyline touch
Injections
Etc., etc.

Clinical imaging (Ultrasound, EGG and X-ray)
This two-in-one department assesses the body organs for normalities/abnormalities using machines to help clinicians better assess and manage the health conditions of individuals.
The Ultrasound Unit attends to some 450 clients every month for various procedures – some on doctors’ recommendations and others on personal requests. The unit began in 2006 with a monthly client average of 83. The number has continued to steadily rise as the population finds the following services they receive here among others, very reliable.

Abdominal scans
Obstetric scans
Gynaecological scans
Small Body part scans (breast, neck (thyroid), scrotum and eye scans)
Musculoskeletal scans
Basic cardiac scans
Ultrasound guided procedures

The X-ray Unit was set up in February 2009 and has done relatively much to alleviate clients’ sufferings. For this short period of its existence, the unit receives a minimum of 200 cases every month still either on individual requests or doctors’ recommendations. The following X-ray procedures are available here:

Chest
Abdomen
Limbs
Spine
Skull

Other procedures that will soon begin in the unit are:

Hysterosalpingography (HSG)
Barium (Swallows, meals, follow through and enemas) examinations
Intravenous pyelography (IVP)
Cystogram, etc.

The Clinical Imaging Department also has an Electro-Cardiographic machine (ECG or EKG) used in monitoring electrical activities of the heart.
Pharmacy
This is the exit point of most patients who come to the hospital. The nine staff of BHM Pharmacy work in three shifts from 07h00 to 21h00 Cameroon time to better satisfy the ever growing number of patients. The Pharmacy does the following for BHM clients:

Drug dispensing
Compounding of extemporaneous products
Pharmacy technicians carry out clinical pharmacy in wards
Interventions with doctors/screeners when necessary
Etc.

Other activities of the pharmacy comprise: collection of daily statistics on number of patients seen by each doctor, number of diabetic patients seen, general number of patients seen daily, etc.
Drugstore
This is the hospital’s pharmaceutical supply unit where drugs for patients and other medical supplies used in the hospital are preserved. BHM’s drugstore is sufficiently equipped and manned by qualified personnel to effectively manage these drugs and supplies received from the CBCHB Central Pharmacy based in Mutengene for distribution to various departments of the hospital as needed.
HIV & AIDS Prevention and Care
Activities geared towards fighting HIV & AIDS are well developed in Baptist Hospital Mutengene given that it is one of the centres approved by the Cameroon government to provide care and treatment to people living with the virus. The hospital hosts two separate programmes that provide HIV related similar and complementary services to the general public.
Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT)
This component of the CBCHB AIDS Care and Prevention (ACP) programme seeks to prevent transmission of HIV from mother to child using ARVs. BHM is one of three pioneer units of the programme in this region of the country, which started with monotherapy since creation in February 2002. Today PMTCT services have extended to other sites like mission, private, public and Para public health units. Staff of this programme are nurses adequately trained by the programme’s partners (the Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) through the International Leadership Award (ILA), Action for West African Region (AWARE), USAIDS and the Columbian University) to handle all HIV related issues. BHM PMTCT receives close to 60 clients every month up from about 30 at creation. PMTCT services in the hospital comprise, but not limited to the following:

Dispensing and monitoring of ARV intake by positive mothers.
Treatment of exposed babies and counselling their moms on how to choose safe feeding options.
Early infant diagnosis (EID) at 6 weeks and rapid test from 15 months to determine whether HIV exposed infants are infected or not.
Training of PMTCT counsellors in both non- and CBC sites to ensure continuous quality services to clients.
Implementation of PMTCT programmes in other sites (sites have grown from 1 at creation to 55 today).
Data collection and analysis to better face new challenges in the programme.
All forms of counselling (Voluntary Confidential Counselling and Testing (VCCT), counselling of spouses of pregnant women, sick men, or suspected cases to get tested, premarital, psychosocial, adherence, etc.).
Collaborates with PMTCT focal point in the region to implement bi-therapy and tri-therapy in all sites in the region.
Formation of support groups (hospital and community based) to improve care
Etc., etc.

Care and Treatment Centre
This is the second of the two components of the AIDS Care and Prevention (ACP) programme of the CBCHB operating at BHM aimed at taking care of HIV infected and affected persons in our society. The centre went operational in March 2007 but was approved by the Cameroon government as a recognised HIV & AIDS treatment centre in September of the same year. The average number of clients seen in the centre per month has skyrocketed from barely 27 in 2007 to 2,700 today. The treatment centre is manned by 13 permanent staff, consisting of nurses, laboratory technicians and counsellors.. BHM Care and Treatment Centre renders clients the following services

Counselling (Adherence, Psychosocial, Spiritual, Nutritional etc.)
Enrolment of infected adults and exposed infants
Screening and consultation of infected clients
Follow-up of exposed infants and ART defaulters
CD4 count and Biological test before ART initiation
Dispensing of ARVs and opportunistic infection prophylaxis.

Care and Treatment Centre Laboratory
BHM Care and Treatment Centre equally runs an independent and well furnished laboratory with specialised equipment for immunology, biochemistry and haematology for care and treatment of HIV & AIDS. The laboratory carries out the following tests:

T cell counts (CD4)
Liver function
Kidney function
Blood glucose
Hepatitis B infection
Syphilis
Complete blood counts
Collection of dry blood spots for early infant diagnosis of HIV.

Laboratory services

Baptist Hospital Mutengene has a well equipped, developed and staffed laboratory. The 10 well trained and experienced staff of the laboratory range from equipment technicians up to senior laboratory technicians. The laboratory also serves as a site for a World Health Organisation (WHO)/Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) clinical research. It has initiated a process that is expected to lead to its accreditation by WHO/TDR and other international bodies. With up-to-date equipment like the Laser .

machine, Hematology Analyser, Hemoglobin A1 machine, CD4 machine and Urine Analysis machine, the BHM laboratory sees an average of over 2,500 clients monthly. The various tests carried in the laboratory can be grouped as follows:

Serology Tests

HIV
Hepatitis B and C
Chlamydia
Syphilis
Etc.

Parasitology / Mycology

Smears for malaria and other haemoparasites
Filarial test
Skin scraping for fungi test
Cervico-vaginal and urethral Smear examinations
Semen analysis
Urine analysis
Stool examination
Pregnancy tests

Biochemistry

Tests to quantity for electrolytes
Liver function tests
Kidney function tests
Estimation of haemoglobin concentration
Glycaemia estimation (diabetes test)
Analysis of body fluids

Haematology

Blood cell counts (white cells, red cells, platelets, etc.)
Blood indices
Haemostasis related tests

Mycobacteriology

BHM laboratory is an approved site for the diagnosis of AFB (Tuberculosis test) in sputum and other body substances.

Bacteriology

Cultures to test for sterility of breast milk for the breast milk bank

Others

Blood transfusion services
Site for WHO/TDR clinical research
Culture and Sensitivity Tests

Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy (PT) (also called Physical Therapy in American English) consists in using physical agents and methods to maintain and restore good health. In BHM, the PT Department operates on a one shift working period from 07h00 to 15h00 Cameroon time, Mondays to Saturdays and attends to some 300 clients every month. The department went operational in BHM in September 2004. BHM’s PT clients receive the following services:

Consultation and postural evaluation
Therapeutic exercises for patients
Keep-fit exercises for non-patients
Electrotherapy (electrical stimulation)
Infrared therapy
All forms of massage
Splinting and casting with Plaster of Paris (POP)
Correction of club feet
Neck and back care instructions
Training people to walk with crutches
Bell’s palsy and stroke rehabilitation

Maternity Services (including Family planning)
The average number of clients seen per month by BHM Maternity Department has geometrically increased from 24 in 1999 (when the department was created) to over 350 in 2013. About 900-1000 deliveries are recorded annually. The 10 professional midwives and a host of other auxiliary staff offer clients the following services:

Antenatal clinic

Mondays: Registration of new clients (clients are occasionally registered on other week days)
Wednesdays: High risk clinics (for women whose obstetrics history involves some risk factors like previous cases of caesarean section, still birth, or women who are less than 1.5m tall).
Thursdays: Routine revisits

Infant welfare clinics: Every Tuesday: Child vaccination
Family planning services (all methods are available)
Incubation services for premature deliveries (BHM is the main referral hospital in all of Fako Division of the SW Region and part of Mungo Division of the Littoral Region for this service. It has two imported and two home-made incubators for babies born prematurely. Most clients are cases referred from the Limbe Provincial Hospital.)
Child delivery
Pre-mature nurseries (with four incubators)
Breats Milk Bank
Expanded Programme on immunization Services

Women’s Health Programme (WHP)
The programme has three staff and offers services like cervical and breast cancer screening, health education to women, minor treatments amongst others to the population.
Tuberculosis clinic
The Tuberculosis (TB) department of Baptist Hospital Mutengene is a Cameroon government approved site for the treatment of the disease since November 2007. The average number of patients seen per month stands at 27. The clinic receives clients every working day of the week. Unfortunately, clients are treated only on an out-patient basis due to lack of hospitalisation space to admit critical TB cases for fear of contaminating other patients. Hence such cases are referred to other health facilities with such services. Services offered at the BHM TB Clinic are as follows:

Free treatment
Free counselling
HIV test to all patients
Occasional follow-up of patients in their homes.

Diabetes services
Baptist Hospital Mutengene also runs a diabetes clinic to take care of clients living with this health condition. The Diabetes Mellitus (DM) clinic was created in 2006. It holds once a month (every last Saturday of the month) commencing sometimes as early as 06h00 Cameroon time as preferred by most clients. The hospital records about 60 new cases of diabetes every month with a considerable number of other clients coming every month for refill and check-up. During the clinic, clients receive the following services:

Consultation and checking of blood pressure (BP) and weight
Health education
Follow-up (intervals for follow-up are one week, two weeks, etc. depending on the client’s blood sugar level as measured during each clinic).
Group and personal exchange of opinion to help dispel myths and misconceptions about Diabetes
Referral of some cases to the doctor
Registration and collection of data
Admission of advanced cases (though this is rare)
Etc

Burkitt’s Lymphomia services
This is a type of cancer common in the Tropics among children aged five to 15. One major early sign is painless swellings on the face, which are often mistaken for toothache. Because of this, Burkitt’s Lymphomia can only be confirmed by a Pathologist. The programme started at BHM in 2005 under the Malawi Protocol. But in September 2008, the Cameroon Protocol was implemented. The programme offers free treatment at BHM to children with this health condition. The programme sees some ten cases every month. Burkitt’s Lymphomia Cameroon is funded by two international volunteers (Prof. Peter Hesseling from the Republic of South Africa and Dr. Peter McCommick from the United Kingdom) and coordinated at BHM by Dr. Eduard Katayi. With the presence of the programme, the commemoration of the International Childhood Cancer Day on every February 15 has gained grounds in BHM.
Chaplaincy/Social services
BHM Chaplaincy and Social Services Department takes care of the spiritual and psychosocial needs of both clients and staff of the hospital. The five qualified chaplains and three social workers in the hospital sees well over 300 clients every month with diverse anxieties that need counselling or spiritual care. Their services include among others:

Overseeing the general spiritual activities of the hospital
Premarital assessment and counselling
Psychosocial and psycho-spiritual counselling
Theological Education by Extension (T.E.E.) and evangelistic outreach programmes
Assisting some needy people when the means are available
Other pastoral care services

Catering Services
Unlike other CBCHB institutions, Baptist Hospital Mutengene does not run a canteen. But to ensure that its clients and staff on duty have quality food, the hospital has set up a mini-market that provides a variety of foods. It is supervised by a Quality Improvement Committee (QIC) and the hospital’s administration. Non-working spouses of the hospital’s staff, who apply to provide food at the mini-market, undergo critical medical and physical examinations at their own expense. The QIC draws up a roster for those selected according to the types of food they are to provide and regularly checks to ensure that the quality and quantity of the food sold to clients are as required. Children under age 14 are not permitted to sell in the mini-market. Defaulters of the rules governing the functioning of the mini-market are sanctioned accordingly.
Security Services
The security department of Baptist Hospital Mutengene is the most challenging in the CBCHB due to the numerous difficulties it faces with the unruly behaviour of the town’s inhabitants. The 15 dynamic security guards here have learnt how to contain mobs each time accident or some fight victims are rushed to the hospital. Their duties include:

Reception of clients
Ensuring the security of clients and staff and their belongings within the hospital premises.
Ensuring the security of the hospital’s premises and property at all times.
Running of errands for the hospital

Maintenance services
To ensure that the hospital functions smoothly, the Maintenance Department of the hospital carries out housekeeping, laundry and technical services. The housekeeping staff ensure cleanliness on both the inside and outside of the hospital. The laundry staff, on its part, is responsible for washing all the hospital’s linen, drying them and pressing them in preparation for use on and by patients. The department also has technicians with diverse skills, who are responsible for the designing and execution of projects as required by the hospital. They equally carry out general maintenance on the hospital’s equipment and structures. This group comprises plumbers, electricians, motor mechanics/drivers, builders, carpenters, etc.
Other functions vital functions in the hospital meant to complement those aimed at ensuring proper care of clients include the services of secretaries, registration (finance) clerks, etc.

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Contact Information
Baptist Hospital Mutengene
PO Box 152, Tiko
Fako Division
South West Region
Cameroon, West Africa
Tel: Security Office: +237 7765 8947
Main Office: +237 7760 5430
Administrator: +237 7786 6284
Email: bhm@cbchealthservices.org
Website: www.cbchealthservices.org