Thousands helped during past 35 years A history of Jibla Baptist Hospital [Archives:2003/01/Reportage]

PREPARED BY IBRAHIM ADDAHAN
YEMEN TIMES IBB CORRESPONDENT
In Nov. 1963 Dr. James Young of the Baptist Hospital in Gaza made a survey trip to Yemen to explore the possibility of beginning a medical mission. The new republic was in desperate need of medical services. As a result of that visit, the ministry of health in Yemen extended a written invitation to southern Baptist to begin medical work.
In Feb. of 1964 Dr. J. D. Hughey and Dr. Young met with the representative of the Ministry of health in Sana’a for further discussion, and by spring of the year the board in the US voted to open medical work in Yemen.
In Sep. of 1964 Dr. Young and his family and Miss Maria Luisa Hidalgo, a Spanish Baptist nurse moved to the city of Taiz in Yemen. There plans were to open an out-patient clinic in Taiz until a more permanent place of work could be chosen and facilities built. The agreement between the Ministry if Health and the mission, known as the Baptist society in Yemen, was:
The Baptist society would work temporarily in Taiz and then chose a site for more permanent work acceptable to the Ministry of Health.
At this cite, not yet identified, the Baptist society would build a hospital, and the hospital would operate on a non-profit basis charging nominal fees.
Temporarily, quarters were assigned in a rather dilapidated section on the second flour of the government Hospital in Taiz. These quarts required considerable repairs but were more spacious than anticipated. Instead of an out patient clinic, it was decided to being work as a small hospital, 20 beds: 10 for men and 10 for women.
This was made possible in large part through the assistant of Dr. John Baker, the American embassy doctor Taiz who procured some beds, tables, cabinets and anesthesia machine from equipment not in use. The wives of the embassy and US AID personnel helped with linens, patient’s gowns and the like. Miss Harlen Dark, wife of the US charge d-affairs , was specially helpful in coordinating the work of the wives. She also did volunteer work as a nurse.
The hospital opened in March in 1965. The professional staff consisted of two doctors, one nurse and one combination laboratory / X-ray/ anesthesia technician. We were joined a bit later, by two more nurses non of the rest of the staff had ever worked in a hospital. The operating table was a fixed metal table sitting on four sulfur-table cans to make it approximately the correct height.
This small hospital ran for eighteen months during which time approximately 15,000 different out patient were seen and several hundred in-patients were admitted. The majority of in-patients were surgery patients.
While working in Taiz, Jibla was chosen as the site for the hospital. The ministry of health visited the town and approved the choice. He following factors were involved in choosing Jibla:
At the time there was only one hospital and one doctor in the Ibb province (population over half a million). The people of Jibla were enthusiastic about the possibility of having a hospital and cooperated in making it possible. They also helped make land available.
Crowed of people coming to the clinic in the city of Taiz were too big to be handed and it was thought that the numbers coming to a small rural city would be more manageable.
The usual picture in developing countries is for doctors to tend to settle in the larger cities and towns and the hospital didn’t want to be in an unhealthy competitive position with government hospitals.
In Nov. 1966 the hospital moved to Jibla. To provide living quarters and an out-patients clinic, US AID loaned the hospital trailers. These were previously used during their road building program in Yemen and were setting unused.
Mr & Mrs Murray Scarborough were sent as associate to direct the building program. He was instrumental in setting up the house trailers and out-patients clinic. Because of ill health, Mr & Mrs Scarborough left after six months.
Through circumstances of God’s doing, a Swedish builder was given a contact to build the hospital and several residences. He began laying the foundations in Feb.1967, three months after, the hospital moved to Jibla. He brought a team of seven Swedish men to do the building.
It proved providential that the hospital was being built with men and material from this natural country, for it was built at the nadir of Arab American relation during the same time as the Six Day-War. Diplomatic relations between the US and Yemen, as well as almost all other countries were broken. The James Young family was the only American family allowed to remain in Yemen at that time.
Jibla Baptist Hospital was inaugurated on schedule in March 1968. It had had been built and equipped for approximately two hundred thousand Dollar or less than three thousand dollars for per-bed. This included wards with seventy five beds, three operating room, an out-patient clinic, an electric plant, laundry, kitchen and store rooms. This was made possible through the economical work of Mr. Ake Ronnderg, the builder, and through the gift of a large amount of used hospital equipment donated and shipped from Sweden by retired Msy, Mr. Erland Jonsson.
Almost from the beginning the hospital has been filled. Often more patients come to clinic than can be seen. There is a fairly long waiting list for elective surgery. In spite of a rather large increase of medical facilities throughout Yemen the statistic of Jibla Hospital show continued growth in the number of patient seen in the out-patient department, the number of admissions, the number of operation and the number of deliveries.
Work was interrupted for almost two months in 1977 following a fire which destroyed the medical stores, electric plant and laundry. Replacement of this one building cause a quarter of million dollar more than the original cost of the hospital. In spite of the time lost, more patients were seen in 1977 than in any previous year.
The EPI program (Extended Program for Immunization) was initiated. In cooperation with the government’s Ministry of Health, the hospital began working to vaccinate all children in Jibla District against the following six diseases: measles, Diphtheria, whopping cough, tetanus, polio, and tuberculosis. Under the direction of Dr. Martha Myers. It is anticipated that this ongoing program will save 1000 children’s lives each year.
Under the direction of home organization leadership, Jibla hospital has been reorganized as a smaller unit specializing in surgical, emergency and pediatric services. This was done to foster the capability to invest in a program of extended health ministries reaching out into the community.
A major event in this process was the discountenance of 24 hours delivery services. Local health officials have been instructed to replace these services in government hospitals. The tendency, too long, had been to defer such cases to Jibla rather than take the initiatives necessary to establish the appropriate quality services at central and district hospital levels.
The extended ministries community Health Education program has recently completed pilot project. This program is developing its own budget and staffing plans.

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