Cairns: Litein Hospital Mental Health Expansion

We are thrilled to announce this update: Through your generous partnership, our campaign was successful at raising $35,000! The clinic space has been constructed and, as of March 2022, Litein’s free-standing mental-health clinic opened and is now operating five days a week!

It was dedicated and named:

• $500 for disability access (wheelchair ramps, etc.)
• $3,800 for operational and logistical support (from computers to waste bins to furniture (appropriate for agitated or aggressive patients)
• $6,000 ($500/month) for a benevolent fund for needy patients (medications, enrollment in national health insurance premiums, and other needs that arise)
• $56,000 ($5670/month) for first-year staffing and start-up costs* (April 2022 through April 2023), after which time it is projected to become self-sustaining.
• Planning for long-term inpatient project (architectural plans, consultant fees, etc.)

What is included in start-up costs?

• Hospital administrative support services (IT, HR, etc.)
• Utilities (water, power)
• Staffing needs: 2 psychologists, 2 mental health clinical officers, 2 mental health nursing officers, 1 pharmaceutical technologist, 1 rehabilitation counsellor, 1 cleaner, 1 medical social worker, 1 health records officer, 2 security officers. NOTE: hiring these will be gradual over the course of the year as patient volume grows and appropriate candidates are recruited. 

Background/Context:

• Please see the new website liteinmentalhealth.org for further updates.
• AIC Litein Hospital is a primary care Christian-faith-based mission hospital in southwestern Kenya, sub-saharan Africa (litein-hospital.org). Through its Kenyan physician leadership, strong ties to the community, and local sustainability, in 2020 Litein began providing outpatient mental health services which have been filled to overflowing.
• This outpatient clinic will be the base for outpatient, community, and support group services. It is also the first step in a longer-term project to build a 100-bed inpatient psychiatric facility with the goal of bringing the best of modern mental healthcare to this underserved region of Kenya.
• The greatest need includes treatment for substance use (especially Alcohol Use Disorders), Depression and Bipolar Disorders, Schizophrenia, and Trauma-Related conditions.
• The nearest inpatient psychiatric facility, at Moi Hospital, is three hours away and is a government hospital with inconsistent ability to provide services to patients and families with limited financial resources, therefore limiting access for those already marginalized
• The CEO of Litein Hospital, Dr. Elijah Terer, is a Kenyan Christian family physician committed to improving access to mental healthcare in his region.
• Dr. Matthew Loftus is a volunteer (missionary) family physician who, in addition to directing the local family medicine residents, has been committed to improving mental healthcare at Litein Hospital for years.
• Dr. Edith Kwobah, a Kenyan Christian psychiatrist and head of the psychiatry division of Moi Hospital, is fully supportive of our enormous project and is consulting with us, pro bono.
• The Litein Mental Health Advisory team has been meeting since 2021 and includes, in addition to the above physicians: Dr. Andrew “Andy” White, William “Biff” Umhau, Mrs. Martha Umhau, Dr. Tony Byler, Drs. Mary & Bryan Cairns, and others.