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Global Surgical Initiatives Inc. Kyabirwa Surgical Center is a registered Non-Government Organisation (NGO) founded in Jinja, Eastern Uganda by members of the Mount Sinai Health System in New York. The Health Unit is licensed by Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council. (UMDPC).

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The Center is located along Kimaka-Buyala Road,10 to 15kms from Jinja town,30 minutes’ drive from town center. This surgical center was founded to improve a long-standing stereotype that much-needed surgery is expensive and only available for the rich. Many underprivileged communities have been kept away from surgical treatments due to lack of adequate resources and significant cost. The aim of this project is to demonstrate that everyone who deserves surgical care can obtain it safely and affordably.

 

Members from the Mount Sinai Health foundation came together and led a drive to fundraise for the establishment of this facility. This followed a visit from to the village on the invitation of Soft Power Health. Soft Power Health is an outpatient clinic in Kyabirwa that offers free services to the community and sees an average of 500 patients in a week coming from all parts of Uganda.

 

Upon visitation of Soft Power Health clinic, the team from Mt. Sinai led by Dr. Marin realized that one of the ways they could support this commendable work would be through construction of a surgical center. It is noted that 60% of patients diagnosed with surgical conditions end up dying due to lack of access to affordable surgical services.

 

In the past, Soft Power Health had to refer all its surgical cases away from the area, a good number of them ending up in Kampala. Due to financial constraints many decided to postpone surgery and await their fate. With the construction of this facility, this gap has been greatly bridged. The Hospital offers highly subsidized surgical services in a clean, high tech driven environment.

 

This carefully designed, well-developed surgical center manages a range of surgical diagnoses, reducing the need to refer patients beyond Jinja and providing care to the most needy, vulnerable communities.

17th September 2019 marked a significant moment in the medical and surgical history of Uganda. On this day, the world was treated to the first of its kind tele-surgery streaming, live from one of Uganda’s remotest villages in Eastern Uganda. Located in Kyabirwa village, Budondo Subcounty, Jinja District is Global Surgical Initiatives’ latest project, a surgical ambulatory centre, Kyabirwa Surgical Centre. The charitable centre was founded by members of the Mount Sinai Health Foundation in New York.

 

Located in a rural setting yet built and equipped with very modern infrastructure, this facility is arguably fashioned as the first of its kind in Uganda, deploying the latest surgical intervention methods to meet at least 80% of the region’s surgical gap on an outpatient model.