Helping Iraqis Help Iraqis

Photo By Spc. Alisha Hauk | An Iraqi man is receiving medical treament at Baqubah General Hospital after incurring injuries in a bombing. The medical facility has recently undergone improvements in order to better the health of the Iraqi people within the Diyala province.  

DIYALA PROVINCE, IRAQ

07.29.2008

Story by Pfc. Alisha Hauk 

14th Public Affairs Detachment

By Pfc. Alisha Nye
14th Public Affairs Detachment

DIYALA, Iraq - The Provincial Reconstruction Team for the Diyala province conducted an assessment of the health care capabilities at Baqubah General Hospital July 28, 2008.

The assessment was one of many to take place in order to facilitate the improvements being made to medical facilities throughout the Diyala province. So, in the future, Iraqis can rely more on their people for medical treatment than U.S. intervention.

"We look at everything from manpower, facilities, supply systems, training, emergency response – the health care system as whole and how it works," said Jerry Gardner, the senior public health advisor for the PRT in Diyala province. "We actually help rebuild health systems."

In order to start rebuilding the health care system at Baqubah General Hospital, the PRT has been helping to get existing contracts to rebuild in the hospital, that were put in place six to eight months ago and have been stalled, moving by managing the contracts and working with the contactors.

"There hadn't been a whole lot of face-to-face contact and hope was kind of lost on getting it done," Gardner said. "We're able to use the government center here and some of our influence with the government to help contactors do their jobs."

"We have an arrangement with Dr. Jerry regarding the extension of the emergency hospital," said Dr. Abdullah Salam, the manager of Baqubah General Hospital. "This is a new hospital only for emergency cases and includes 70 beds. This will be achieved within the next nine months, as planned."

Just seeing the work being done has helped the Iraqi people emotionally, said Gardner.

"I think just the fact that they know we're building a new facility here, that they're seeing a lot of renovation efforts, they see us rolling in and out of here, they know that the U.S. has a real specific interest in making sure that the health care facilities are improved," Gardner said.

Before the PRT intervened, the hospital was in very bad shape, said Gardner. There was no power, people were not coming to work and the hospital was filthy.

Since the PRT got involved, many improvements have been made.

"Doctors are actually coming to work, seeing patients and following up on patients," Gardner said. "They're using a system-type approach to make sure once patients come in they're actually seen, taken care of, followed-up on, and that the patient knows where to go after the hospital to get taken care of long-term."

Efforts to improve the health care systems in the Diyala province have gone so far as to set up a "town-hall meeting," every Tuesday where citizens come in and ask questions about health care and health care facilities, said Gardner.

"I think it has been very well utilized," he said.

The most influential changes for the hospital have come from increasing the pay for the doctors working in the hospital and putting a lot more emphasis on security for them, said Gardner.

"It really wasn't safe to be a doctor here for the last couple of years," he said. "Once you've taken care of pay, security, making sure they have good medical equipment to work with, you start getting people who want to stick around."

Once you get doctors who want to stick around to help treat their people, you get people who trust their doctors.

"The number of people coming to this hospital is increasing," said Salam. "The people are starting to accept our services in this hospital. The situation is better, so more people come for treatment."

Since the situation and facilities at the hospital have improved, it has changed the way doctors working at the hospital handle emergencies.

"Our hospital deals successfully with emergencies and crisis," Salam said. "In the last three days we've received more than 30 cases and we've dealt with them all successfully. All cases have been settled."

With the situation and facilities improving at Baqubah General Hospital, the PRT has started to focus attention on improving the health care system within the rest of Diyala province.

"The health care system in Diyala, as a whole, is evolving," Gardner said. "We're opening four new clinics, built by the U.S. Corps of Engineers, all over Diyala. We're pushing health care out to the villages."

Hopefully, said Gardner, it will take some of the stress off of Baqubah General Hospital.

With these efforts from the Provincial Reconstruction Team to improve health care within the Diyala province, Iraqis can begin to rely on one another for better medical treatment and health care.

• Date Taken: 07.29.2008
• Date Posted: 10.02.2008 07:06
• Story ID: 24411
• Location: DIYALA PROVINCE, IQ