Kanye Adventist Hospital celebrated 93 years of existence last week. The ceremony was filled with song and dance as people from all walks of life
came in large numbers to celebrate the good work the hospital has provided to the village so far.
Among the notable guests was Former President of Botswana Sir Ketumile Masire. Local Chiefs, poets, musicians, doctors, and Health professionals all were in attendance.
On this day the hospital looked back at the beginnings of the Kanye Seventh-day Adventist Hospital and its subsidiaries, both historic and current. It has been 93 memorable years since the first patient was seen. Besides celebrating 93 years, the hospital also unveiled and launched its full colour logo to symbolise its new brand. Guest Speaker Minister of Agriculture Patrick Ralotsia and MP for Kanye north said Kanye SDA Hospital is a name woven in the history of Kanye Village. He said at 93 years of service, most of them and their children were born at the hospital. “Many of our children were educated in your college and indeed we look forward to having a University in Kanye someday,” he said.
Ralotsia further noted that the hospital is the first of modern medicine facilities in Botswana. “As the history has been outlined, it gave us Botswana a number of first… a school of nursing, satellite clinics that were first to have maternity, flying medical mission services and even a PPP that is this year 40 years. These historical milestones are significant and noteworthy” he said.
The minister further observed that it was also worth noting that in recent years the hospital has been delivering an average of 130 babies per month as well as in general seeing an average of 7000 to 8000 patients a month.
“It indeed takes a lot of discipline and determination to provide quality service to those numbers. Kanye and its health district designation allocate no less than 33 health service facilities of different levels. Your services therefore are not limited to Kanye or to the confines of the hospital grounds. There is still a need for outreach support to far off areas. Many specific services are to be found only in the hospital within the district, like dental work, laboratory services, x-ray services and mortuary services to mentiona few,” he said.
He also talked of how the introduction of 24hr clinics in the district has alleviated the need for more medical facilities in the area somewhat, but added that the need was however still great. He said in spite of all these in 2015 people live in modern times of service delivery excellence, performance contracts, and also a litigious society.
“Our society is more sophisticated and educated, so it is no longer sufficient just to have a facility or to have a great history as evidently this hospital has. To move forward and continue writing your history, the hospital
must pay attention to the needs of the society. It must become part of the society. Initiatives like the cleanup 5 campaign last year are critical to bridge the gap between the hospital and the society,” The minister advised. He also praised the hospital for coming up with brilliant policies like promoting a meat free diet for better health and that they have been proven correct in many cases. He further advised the hospital to make a deliberate effort to educate the community on these so they understand the benefits to themselves.
“With your history rooted in religion, it is expected that the hospital personifies a caring and compassionate nation. As Botswana, we are striving towards 2016, where we envision a healthy nation, educated, caring and compassionate to mention some of our vision 2016 pillars. Where does this hospital gauge itself in this regard? Our health system is perpetually taken to task by members of the public, pointing fingers at us for some failures,” he said.
Regarding the branding he said, “It is therefore pleasing that as we commemorate 93 years of service and indeed 40 years of strategic partnership with government, you are taking this moment to emphasize your brand, unveil your enhanced logo and formally broadcast your preferred name. As all these initiatives are usually a part of business revamp and invigoration, we trust they will go a long way to revive this facility and set on the great path to its centenary like its sister institutions and beyond.”
The newly unveiled hospital logo consists of a simple blue, monochromatic shape of an open bible, a lit lantern, map of Africa and a snake on a rod.
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