It was 2000 when the inauguration of St. Luke Hospital in Wolisso opened the door to a long-time collaboration between CUAMM and the Health authorities of the South West Shoa Zone (SWSZ).
The construction of the new facility resulted from the agreement signed by Oromia disaster prevention and preparedness Bureau, Oromia Health Bureau and Ethiopian Catholic Church. The objective was twofold: first, to establish health services in Wolisso area and secondly, to open a nursing school in Oromia Regional State.
As a matter of fact, there was no hospital service between Addis Ababa and Jimma – a stretch of around 350km, neither a training school for nurses prior to the realisation of St Luke Catholic Hospital and College of Nursing.
The construction of St Luke Catholic Hospital and College of Nursing and Midwifery stemmed from Doctors with Africa CUAMM’s philosophy of contributing to the improvement of the life of people living in Southwest Shewa Zone, Oromia Regional State. Since the early years, the hospital has been providing maternal and child health (MCH) services while gradually promoting community medicine across Wolisso district.
CUAMM’s commitment to improving health services in the SWSZ has scaled up over time.
To remain loyal to the mission of contributing to the improvement of the life of people living in SWSZ, CUAMM committed to taking its work beyond the hospital and in 2008, it established the St. Luke Catholic Hospital Public Health Department aiming to strengthen Primary Health Care (PHC) and support the integration of PHC services with curative ones. In addition, the Department also worked for the expansion of community health activities and the improvement of the referral system for patients. From 2008 to 2015 CUAMM’s support to primary health care units expanded from the districts of Wolisso and Goro to 20 health centres situated in 4 districts, namely Wolisso Rural, Wolisso Town, Goro and Wonchi Districts.
In the following years, more grant/projects have been mobilise to boost community health acitivities with a particular dedication to maternal and neonatal health and infectious diseases. At the same time, the Organization managed to keep expanding its support to other districts and Hospitals of Southwest Shewa Zone like Bacho, Amaya, Sadan Soddo and Tole districts including Tullu Bollo and Amaya hospitals.
Sensitization activity in Wolisso district during Covid-19 pandemic
The collaboration between CUAMM and the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat continues to date to strengthen the management of diocesan healthcare facilities across the country. A significant portion of the intervention focuses on the South West Shoa Zone, specifically at the hospital and the Nursing and Midwifery School in Wolisso, as well as in the surrounding districts of Goro, Wolisso, and Wonchi.
To date, maternal and neonatal care and infectious diseases are the core of CUAMM intervention in the area. Outreach activities are being conducted regularly to promote prevention, ensure access to health service for all, facilitate referral to the main hospital. By working in close collaboration with health centres located in the South West Shoa Zone, CUAMM is not only providing screening services for both infectious diseases and malnutrition but concerning the latter it is also offering community-led activities as food demonstrations. Those are effective strategy to improve participants’ cooking skills, social interactions and nutritional intake. By promoting the practice of “eating locally” community kitchens foster education on the effective use of locally-grown food.
On January 2nd, Guteta Degefa Buta – South West Shoa Zone Health Office Head has awarded Doctors with Africa CUAMM work in Wolisso
“In recognition of the outstanding contribution and support made toward the health system strengthening, decrease preventable maternal and child health morbidity and mortality, communicable and non-communicable disease prevention and control in south west shoa zone”.
Such recognition bears witness to CUAMM’s uninterrupted work over the past 25 years alongside Ethiopian health authorities—never “in their place”—with the aim of strengthening the system to ensure sustainability and lasting results for the benefit of the resident community.
«I am really excited by this recognition that prove that our work is trusthworthy. I would like to thank both CUAMM HQ team, the Country Office team and the team here in Wolisso who have actively participated in the entire process from the resource mobilization to successful accomplishment of our public health projects» said Worku Nigussa –CUAMM Area Manager in Wolisso, Ethiopia.
Despite the results achieved, ensuring the continuity of CUAMM’s program in a setting that prioritizes support to emergencies over development, remains a major challenge.
