Providing better care for the community

Photo By Michael Vanpool | Maj. Deidre Lockhart, medical operations officer for the 101st Sustainment Brigade, and Col. Michael Peterman, brigade commander, 101st Sus. Bde., Sayed Padshahy, a local contractor, and Dr. Khaleque, the hospital administrator, stand in the sole operating room at the Dehdadi District Public Hospital, Sept. 6. The hospital supports 100,000 people in the Dehdadi District, and needs many improvements to provide better care for the local community. Leaders of the 101st Sustainment Brigade, 530th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, and the Dehdadi District broke ground on the hospital, signifying the start of a series of renovations.  

BALKH PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

09.06.2011

Story by Spc. Michael Vanpool 

101st Division Sustainment Brigade Public Affairs

BALKH PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Local leaders of the Dehdadi District and the 101st Sustainment Brigade broke ground on renovations to the Dehdadi District Public Hospital.

The hospital renovations are being completed by a local workforce and will enhance the staff’s ability to care for Afghans in the area.

“This is the only free hospital around, so a lot of people come from the villages around,” said Dr. Khaleque, the hospital administrator.

Nearly 100,000 villagers receive their medical care from the clinic. The hospital specializes in children’s medicine, by helping women through pregnancy and childbirth.

The staff also provides medical care and treats patients for the local community.

“The hospital performs births, surgeries, everything just like a normal hospital,” said Capt. Sherman Pinckney, the officer in charge of the Commander’s Emergency Response Program, 530th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade.

The 530th CSSB, located at Forward Operating Base Dehdadi II, deployed to Afghanistan this past spring with the mission on their plates and in the sights of the local community and the leadership of the coalition forces.

“This hospital was talked about when we first had our monthly shuras,” Pinckney said. “This project was on Gen. [David] Petraeus’s project list. He set aside some funds when he was in charge to make sure it got done.”

Before 530th CSSB arrived, the 87th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion CERP team, medical operations section, and brigade safety officer, visited the hospital and identified their needs. They looked at first improving the space and how to power the hospital.

Brigade medical operations officer Maj. Deidre Lockhart said the 530th CSSB picked up where their predecessor left off.

“They basically built a contract to start renovations on the hospital and fix some of the things they identified the last time, i.e. to fix the electrical work, fixing the lighting and some hospitals. That’s stage one,” she said.

The 530th CERP team worked with local vendors to find a contractor to revamp the hospital to better fit the needs of the villages nearby.

“We wanted to be sure they could start the project and complete it in a timely manner, and follow through with quality work.” Pinckney said.

The Afghans working the improvements to the hospital are hired from the same local community that will benefit from the refurbished hospital.

“We wanted to supply someone from the local community so that there would also be jobs,” Pinckney said.

The local crew will spend the next few months refitting the existing space with new tiles, doors and windows. The power grid and water system will also be upgraded. Air conditioning units for the hot summer days, and heaters for the cold winter nights will also be added.

A new building is being constructed to provide more space for the patients in the area.

Once the hospital is renovate with more space for patients, and better water and power, the battalion will start the process of providing them with new equipment.

“As things develop and they improve the electrical grid, they’re going to add new equipment,” Lockhart said. “This is where we came in by researching the background and finding equipment they can easily maintain.”

The new resources will replace the outdated equipment throughout the hospital, and bring the staff up to speed with new technologies to treat their patients. The improvements are scheduled for completion within the next four months; all the while, the hospital will still care for the local population’s medical needs.

The local leaders and village elders have worked with the battalion from the start and anticipate the addition. “They’re excited that their community will be provided with a better hospital,” Pinckney said.

• Date Taken: 09.06.2011
• Date Posted: 09.06.2011 10:03
• Story ID: 76519
• Location: BALKH PROVINCE, AF