The Good Shepherd Hospital was established some 17 years ago in a part of Egypt most in need of medical services—Samalout, Minya, 220km south of Cairo.
The six-floor-hospital is owned and operated by the Coptic Orthodox Bishopric of Samalout and was opened in 1992. The bishop Anba Pavnotious was himself a medical doctor before taking orders, and was thus the perfect candidate to envision and oversee such a project.
Well equipped
The emergency unit at the hospital admits at least five cases a day. The hospital operates a well-equipped ambulance and has departments for nephrology, cardiology, ophthalmology, oncology, X-rays, medical analysis, and surgery, as well as intensive care. The surgery department contains five operating theatres. Cardiac catheterisation is the most recent section, and a new section for open-heart surgery will open soon. “We regularly upgrade our medical equipment,” says Mariam Salah, the hospital’s administrative manager.
The hospital also contains a large conference room and a medical library.
Ms Salah says that the main problem they faced since the hospital was first founded was setting up a blood bank directly affiliated to the hospital, the main blood bank in the region being that of Minya, 34kms south of Samalout.
Regardless of religion
The Good Shepherd serves all Upper Egyptians, regardless of religious identity, since it is the only large, well-equipped hospital in the region.
“The hospital serves both Muslims and Copts, and there are Muslim physicians who work with us,” Salah says. “The hospital also invites experts and doctors from all over the world. Since we aim to improve our medical services and broaden our support of the sick people in the region regardless of their religion or belief, we never put religious pictures or statues in the rooms or corridors,” Suzie Farid who heads the hospitality department told Watani.
Since the hospital opened it has been able to make a balance between payments and proceeds. The needy receive support from the social services office at the bishopric. Prices of the medical services represent the minimum prices as stipulated by the Egyptian Health Ministry.
Generous donations
“Establishing such a successful project was not at all easy. The success owes to the spirit of challenge everyone adopted,” says Anba Pavnotious. “We were first faced by the huge difficulty in obtaining all the required official approvals and licences. Then there was the problem of finance. And we continuously face the problem of the scarcity of local medical experts, so we invite doctors and surgeons from other places to fill the void.”
Anba Pavnotious affirmed that the project was totally funded by donations from the congregation of the Samalout bishopric. The hospital, he said, received no donations from any national or international organisations or from immigrant Copts. “The hospital does not seek profits; it only covers its expenses,” he says.