By Amin Kef Sesay – Ranger
Shifaa and Dialysis Center (S&DC) is a privately owned and operated and the only dialysis centre in Sierra Leone that is taking care of all kidney patients that come to the clinic. It is located at 8 Campbell Street in Freetown and has been in operation for almost 3 years now. The centre has fully certified, trained and specialized staffs in Dialysis (a nephrologist, nutritionist, dialysis nurses and dialysis technicians). During these trying times, the centre has continued to work diligently, following rigorous trainings to ensure the safe treatments of their patients.
According to Dalanda Bah, Manager and Director of Administration of Shifaa and Dialysis Center, they have experiences in taking patients from abroad while they visit Sierra Leone on vacation. They can make all the necessary dialysis arrangements for patients while they travel, adding that patients who have insurance abroad may have their insurers pay for all their treatments in Sierra Leone and would coordinate with them if necessary.
“We are proud to say that our centre is fully equipped to treat at least 12 clients a day! Our machines and water systems are ‘brand new’ and the best of their kind”, Dalanda said.
Shifaa and Dialysis Centre (S&DC) caters for all, both rich and poor. It prides itself in education, quality dialysis treatment and counselling, enhancing the basics of life and facilitating the overall well-being of the dialysis clients. In achieving this, it is their plan to facilitate workshops and organize free health screenings onsite. Currently, they offer the following service: Haemodialysis for Acute and Chronic patients.
In addition, they also provide counselling and education to all clients and their family members. S&DC is expected to accommodate at least twelve (12) haemodialysis patients within its daily schedule and they work from Monday to Saturday. Dalanda Bah further disclosed that in the centre is a Sierra Leonean doctor, Dr. Komrabai Kanu, who examines patients regularly and plays a supervisory role over the team of doctors in accordance with the laws of Sierra Leone concerning medical practitioners working in the country.
Dalanda further explained that any time a patient comes to the clinic, whether the patient is a regular client or not, they are treated as if the visit is the first. Weight of the patient is taken and all other organs checked, before a prescription is made for further treatment and the quantity of water to be reduced from the patient. Also the centre cautions the cook of the patient on the type of food he/she should be eating.
Patients in need of dialysis treatment in Sierra Leone are the latest on the receiving end of the coronavirus pandemic. In a country whose public healthcare system is without a functional dialysis machine. The setting up of this centre is as a result of Dalanda Bah’s desire to look after her sick dad, who needed dialysis treatment. She is a US-based Sierra Leonean nurse Assistant. Since then the centre has come to provide dialysis services to Sierra Leoneans and it is the only place that provides the service in the country. It has been supervised by Guinean nephrologists since its inception.
Presently, he is in self-isolation and cannot now practice, having arrived from a country with a high number of Covid19 cases. He will have to wait. But the patients cannot wait. With some of them needing to dialyze three times a week, some have started developing complications because of the long days since the closure of the centre. To address the plight of their clients, efforts are now underway to improve the facility.
A Liberian, who has travelled from one country to another every week in search of treatment, today uses the services of S&DC. The management say that it is stories like these that motivate them to conquer all obstacles…on a daily basis.
In his statement after being treated by S&DC, the Liberian explains his ordeal; “My name is O. G. K, I am 50 years old and I work with the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) as Senior Ethics Officer. I started doing dialysis in April 2019 at the Korlebu Teaching Hospital in Ghana and later the same month I came to Freetown in Sierra Leone to continue the dialysis at Shifaa and Dialysis Center. Since that time up to today, I have been doing dialysis at this centre. This centre has benefited me immensely because Sierra Leone is close to my country Liberia, which enabled me to travel regularly for dialysis treatments. I like this centre most, because of the care the medical treatments I received from them. I have no hesitation to recommend the Shifaa and Dialysis Center to anybody who would be in need of dialysis treatments.”
It was disclosed that S&DC is on the verge of expanding its facility to accommodate more patients in response to the growing demand from the public. “We are currently on construction work to expand the small clinic that we have in order to meet the high demand of patients who are in dire need of dialysis,” they stated.
Shifaa and Dialysis Centre is opened between the hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday through Saturday. On Sundays and after hours, they are open for emergencies only and patients are asked to contact the Director Of Administration, Dalanda Bah, any day and time for all questions on WhatsApp: +1347 400 6288, Salone number: +232 79225639, Email: Shifaadialysiscenter@gmail.com, website: shifaadialysiscenter.com
Shifaa Dialysis Centre is calling on all Sierra Leoneans on Dialysis to come and visit their facility. “Have you left Salone for many years and could not come back because of no reliable dialysis? Then your time to come home and feel like it’s abroad is NOW!” Shifaa provides the best quality treatments from well-known professional staff and an amazing environment. Now all Sierra Leoneans on Dialysis can come home and visit their homes and families without any worry of a reliable dialysis centre they could visit.
