By Amin Kef (Ranger)
During a temporary closure of the Shifaa and Dialysis Center (S&DC) situated on 8 Campbell Street in Freetown, renovation work was done in addition to upgrading of equipments as well as the inclusion of other facilities and at the same time the entity collaborated with Life Care Hospital to provide even better expert medical services.
It could be recalled that the S&DC has always had their patients routinely seen by trained and qualified Guinean Nephrologists, most especially those who were already diagnosed with kidney disease and those who were already on dialysis treatment. This is according to Dalanda Bah, the CEO and former Manager and Director of Administration at Shifaa and Dialysis Center.
Intimating this Press further, Madam Bah disclosed that when the center initially opened, they had little or no competition due to the professional and exceptional care that they rendered to their patients. She went on to say they had experts in Nephrology, a Supervising Physician, six well trained Dialysis Nurses, internationally trained Dialysis Technicians and an Administration with highly qualified personnel that had extensive amount of experience in dialysis.
“Our kidney specialists were on site twenty-four hours, seven days a week to check on patients thoroughly and give them the best dialysis treatment available based on the patients’ individual conditions,” said Madam Bah.
According to her, during the COVID-19 pandemic, they were successful in keeping the center open in order to continue treating their patients with kidney disease at a time when other institutions were either shutting down or leaving the country.
“Unfortunately, in March of 2022, we took action temporarily shutting down. Since the opening of S&DC, we worked independently despite our countless efforts to get other offices and organizations to join forces with us and make the treatment of dialysis affordable for those who needed it, but to no avail. In addition to those challenges, there was no Nephrologist in Sierra Leone that we were either willing to work with or that was willing to work with us simply because we are a private entity. So when the Guinean Nephrologists, whose services we had been using from start could not continue coming to Sierra Leone, we had to shut down.” She added that they are not a center that provides services through corruption. As a result, they were not willing to go against the law of the Medical and Dental Council of Sierra Leone and work without a Nephrologist which resulted in them closing down.
“But we had hope and after what seemed like eternity, we had successful meetings with like-minded people, conducted respective coordination and today, we are elated to re-commission the most reliable and trusted dialysis center in our country.”
According to her, on the 6th March , 2023, they were pleased to announce that S&DC has collaborated with the fastest growing medical center in Sierra Leone, the Life Care Hospital.
She stated further that: “This is a collaboration of two notable medical facilities in Sierra Leone. We both pride ourselves in doing nothing less than exceptional medical care. As individual institutions, we work with only medical experts in almost all medical specialty departments. We are open to the public today for all Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad. We do not compromise our reputation or the lives of the people. We provide free dialysis counselling and also kidney diseases, diabetes, hypertension counseling. We never re-use our products. We understand the complications and implications as we could risk killing them. We can assure the best services for all no matter the financial status of our patients,” Madam Bah said.
She reiterated that the S&DC has been renovated to include Life Care Hospital and can now boast of a pharmacy, a medical lab on site, and 24-7 emergency service for all patients. She added that at the center, they observe patients on site and do admissions. “So now, with S&DC, there is no need for our patients to go elsewhere,” she said.
The services they provide include but are not limited to consultation for all medical complaints, Hemodialysis for Acute and Chronic kidney diseases led by a team of experts in this field-a Nephrologist with 12 years of experience who is also a cardiovascular surgeon that is well qualified in procedures like inserting permanent and temporary catheters and caring for patients in the Intensive Care Unit. Also, a trained Dialysis Nurse of over 8 years of experience working with dialysis patients in large medical institutions, our trained Sierra Leonean nurses and a team of qualified Dialysis Technicians.
In addition, the center also provides emergency services round the clock and all facilities needed for proper diagnosis, observation and treatment are on site. Their medical equipments are the most recent in medical technology and high quality. The S&DC is expected to accommodate at least ten (10) hemodialysis patients daily.
Shifaa and Dialysis Center and Life Care Hospital have collaborated to make an even bigger impact on the lives of all Sierra Leoneans thereby contributing to enhancing their quality of life.
For More information, Contact them at:
#Address: 8 Campbell Street, F/T, Sierra Leone.
#WhatsApp: +1347 400 6288
#Call: +232 78 768355
+232 30 276607
#Facebook: @Shifaadialysiscenter
#Email: Shifaadialysiscenter@gmail.com
Doctor’s Email: dr.w.zaen@hotmail.com
#Website: shifaadialysiscenter.com
