Shinshicho Hospital in Shinshicho, Ethiopia, is now up and running and utilizing donated X-ray equipment from Slocum Center for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine. Since opening in July of 2015, the hospital has treated more than 3,500 patients, seeing 100 to 150 patients per day.

Patients can receive inpatient, outpatient, and emergency services. The hospital lab is complete, and patient wings are complete with beds and monitors. Surgical operating rooms will be opening in the next couple of months and are stocked with special equipment for anesthesiologists.

Prior to the hospital opening, only one small clinic was available to serve an area the size of Eugene. Slocum Center for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine donated the X-ray equipment to Shinshicho Hospital after learning of the need for better medical facilities and equipment in the area in 2011.

“It is an honor to be able to help the patients and hospital staff in Ethiopia and see this project come full circle,” says orthopedic surgeon Dr. Thomas Wuest. “We are excited to hear about how Shinshicho hospital is serving its community and look forward to seeing what it will do in the future.”

Already, Shinshicho Hospital has held emergency surgery training, has a partially stocked pharmacy with more supplies to come, and is in discussions about how and when to hire additional specialist surgeons, including a gynecologist and an obstetrician.