‘Be Healed’

Background

The 2015 publication of the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery kindled the global surgery movement with its announcement that 5 billion people worldwide lack access to safe and affordable surgery and anesthesia care. While coordinated efforts have increased the numbers of trained specialists and improved surgical volume in many settings since then, significant challenges in access and quality remain. For example, the 2018 African Surgical Outcomes Study identified a mortality rate of 2.1%–with 94.1% of deaths occurring after the day of surgery–and complication rate of 18% among surgical patients across the continent. Given the complexity of surgical care delivery, improving these outcomes will require multidisciplinary innovation across the entire spectrum of perioperative care. 

AIC Kijabe Hospital has distinguished itself in providing advanced surgical and anesthesia care for nearly 10,000 operations a year with patients coming from across the East Africa region. The hospital offers a diverse array of specialists and training programs in general surgery, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, head and neck surgery, pediatric surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, urology, neurosurgery, and anesthesiology as well as support services in intensive care and rehabilitation. In 2024, Kijabe highlighted strategic goals in comprehensive healthcare services, research innovation, financial sustainability, and patient satisfaction. With these and other assets, ongoing external and internal collaborations, as well as a growing research department with expertise in healthcare informatics, Kijabe is well-positioned to expand its leadership role in perioperative medicine and provide the fullest recovery and healing for all its patients to ‘Be healed’ (in Swahili, “Pona”). 

Vision

Healing for every surgical patient that comes to Kijabe provided in a model that advances perioperative medical care for all who we influence.

Mission

The PONA Center will develop innovative, evidence-based, cost-conscious, and context-appropriate clinical care, research, and training pathways that enhance the postoperative recovery of our patients and advance high-quality healthcare delivery for surgery in similar settings. 

Structure

The Center is a joint project of the Departments of Anesthesia, Surgery, Nursing, Quality, and Research at AIC Kijabe Hospital led by a committee of representatives from each. Over time, the Center will employ its own support staff. 

Activities

Activities of the Center will revolve around three areas:

1. Care pathways: The Center will develop and implement context-appropriate clinical algorithms and pathways to optimize patient outcomes across the whole perioperative spectrum of care. 
2. Clinical research and quality improvement: The Center will establish a culture of quality improvement and innovation through continuous perioperative process evaluation and systematic utilization of research and operations optimization tools. 
3. Training and advocacy: The Center will equip healthcare personnel with knowledge and tools to become leaders in perioperative medicine and promote perioperative quality improvement among partner hospitals.

Needs

To accomplish these aims, the PONA Center is seeking collaborating partners to provide programmatic and financial support with a goal of $50,000 to meet start-up costs for two years. Interested individuals and institutions should contact mkynes@kijabehospital.org for more information. Funds may be directed to Friends of Kijabe directed to ‘Education and Research’ with a note for perioperative research https://friendsofkijabe.networkforgood.com