Centre of Excellence in Haemodialysis for ABUAD

Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti  (ABUAD), in collaboration with the Atlanta Georgia USA-based Bridge of Life (BOL), a non-profit organisation, is set to establish a Centre of Excellence in Haemodialysis at the ultra-modern 400-bed ABUAD Multi System Hospital.

This is part of efforts to give back to the society and ensure quality health care for the people.

The hospital, inaugurated on October 20 last year, began operations on March 21.

Upon take-off, ABUAD/BOL Centre of Excellence will be the first in Africa “to serve men, women and children through four programme areas of kidney care, primary care and prevention and education as well as kids’ camps, thus bringing care of the kidney closer to the people.”

Speaking at a one-day workshop on ABUAD/BOL Haemodialysis partnership in Ado-Ekti at the weekend, Mr. Christopher Atwater, BOL’s director of Technical Operations, recalled how impressed he was after his August 2017 on-site needs assessment at ABUAD Multi System Hospital as a result of which BOL launched its support with the Haemodialysis Unit of the hospital with architectural design and layout.

He said: “I have been here before. I took photographs with the founder, Aare Afe Babalola. When I got back home in the United States, I checked him out online. What I saw about this man amazed me and fired my interest in him the more. Because of this interest in him and his modern university, I made up my mind to be part of this project. This is why I am here and I am happy to be here.”

Atwater said the principal objective of the BOL Haemodialysis partnership all over the world was to empower people to set up their own Haemodialysis centres that would be internationally-acclaimed and recognised, stressing that “we are not here for a mere partnership. We are here to supply and install world-class Haemodialysis equipment, test-run them, train people on how to use the sophisticated equipment for enhanced performance. We are here to offer a total package by providing quality and sustainable patient care and the tools to manage clinical operations through comprehensive training.

“Others are assisting BOL partners with start-up of dialysis clinics in strategic underserved locations with the intent of providing impactful and safe dialysis treatment, assist and support partners in the development of nursing, technical and operational training curriculum to include on-side support of the Centre of Excellence workers and work with the Ministry of Health in the establishment  of regulations and standards of care that promote safe and effective dialysis patient treatment outcomes.”

Atwater, who said BOL is always concerned about compliance and set standards in treating patients, likened its operations to the running of an aircraft where every part is checked and documented by competent and certified personnel before take-off.

In addition to training and re-training, he said BOL would screen patients for early detection and treatment of kidney diseases, while its plans for the Haemodialysis Centre would be in three phases: identifying the location of the centre and procurement of equipment and consumables, treatment of patients and documentation and presentation of reports/results to see how far BOL had gone.

The ABUAD/BOL Haemodialysis partnership is in tandem with Babalola’s vision and mission of producing highly skilled, socially and globally relevant graduates capable of applying scientific and medical knowledge to solve societal problems.

Babalola said ABUAD, which parades an army of highly talented and professionals of international repute, is moving at a faster rate than he had contemplated, adding that because those working at the university are agents of change, it will soon catch up and overtake many of the universities established before it.

He said: “We have started well, we have arrived and we are going up and up and up.”

 

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