Today we traveled up to Makueni County Hospital, the main public hospital of Makueni County. Specifically, we went to the Mother & Child (Maternity) unit, to meet with the JHPIEGO Safe Surgery team once more, as well as to speak with the staff and learn about the hospital as usual.
We sat down with the hospital administrator, as well as a team of midwives, anesthetists, and nurses to discuss the potential for a new technology being tested in a pilot study by JHPIEGO, in partnership with a company called Proximie. Proximie is deploying a system where four cameras are set up in an operating theater, and the procedure is broadcast to a website, which can be remotely watched by doctors or specialists who are not present in the theater at the time, who can give the medical staff guidance if needed. It can also be used for training, as it allows for annotations and picture sharing.
We witnessed this camera setup in an operating theater, and then we watched them test out the system for the first time on a c-section, as we watched from a nearby conference room. I only realized after the fact that this could have been the very first telehealth surgery done in all of Africa, we had just witnessed history being made!
Nevertheless, when we were done, we said goodbye to the JHPIEGO Safe Surgery team, and then started driving back to our hotel in Makindu. On the way, we stopped at a riverbed at the request of Ignacio, who was curious. Apparently Kenya has been in the middle of "la nina", which for them, is a dry season. We came upon a hole dug deep in the sand, which was done by a local to have access to water for their cattle. Apparently the water could get much higher and it would last a long time, but rain is not very common in this region because it is very arid most of the time.
After returning to our hotel, we took a brief break in the swimming pool, and later had a meeting with Dr. Sanghvi, one of our stakeholders, via zoom. Today would be our final day in Makueni County, because tomorrow, we would leave for Mombasa!