Ramadan is already at our doorsteps! A particularly difficult year has already gone by where we were confronted for the first part of it to the audit of the Ministry of social solidarity. This audit resulted in the refutation of the allegations that were circulating in the Media about the existence of financial, administrative and technical irregularities at the Children’s Cancer Hospital Foundation 57357.
Throughout this crisis, the 57357 Institution stands strong, unwavering, transparent, and committed more than ever to pursue its vision and commitment to a cancer-free childhood. Thanks to its faithful friends and partners, 57357 pursues its efforts towards upgrading and expanding its services and programs that aim at maximizing the outcomes of its patients and increasing the over-all survival rates in Egypt and the surrounding region.
As such, at the end of February 2019, 57357’s continuous efforts towards improving quality standards are crowned with the renewal of the Joint Commission International, JCI’s quality accreditation with a compliance rate of 98.8%. Also in the first quarter of 2019, two major up-grades were carried out:
1- Upgrading the department of pharmaceutical services: adding 5 new rooms for direct contact with patient and family to receive information about treatment, a new dispense queuing management system, redesigning drug preparation space to ensure air quality and efficient work flow accordingly , 10 new isolators, a new semi-automated chemotherapy preparation equipment for higher safety level for staff and more accuracy of the preparation . it is noteworthy that the department prepares 120,000 preparations monthly.
2-launch of 57357’s fully automated lab which translates into Increased speed and accuracy of performance, increased proper patient management translated in higher cure rates, and Increased potential to serve adult patients and be a source of revenue for the Hospital.
As for its capacity and program expansion, the 57357 is well on track to complete it and transform 57357 into a health Sciences Campus with 52% of concrete works of the out-patient clinics building completed, 40% of the finishing works of the 28 in-patient bed treatment building A accomplished, work in progress on the design of the cyber-knife building which will be completed and operating by 2020, and building design of the proton therapy completed. Both the cyber-knife technology and proton therapy have the particularity of preserving the healthy cells and decreasing the side effects of treatment, offering improved chances of cure and better patient outcomes.
On another front, the 57357 Foundation training programs are running smoothly and according to schedule. These are intended to benefit healthcare professionals throughout Egypt and the surrounding Region with the goal of creating a new generation of experts that are capable to change and improve the level of healthcare provision in their own settings. The programs are offered in collaboration with world renowned medical and academic institutions and cover a wide range of medical and non-medical fields.
On a third front, the 57357 Institution is more than ever committed to leading research efforts in Egypt to prevent, better diagnose and cure cancer in children and to improve their quality of life, turning Hospital 57357 into a world-steering locomotive in pediatric oncology research.
Yesterday, I was once again solicited by a friend to interfere for a nine month baby whose family was desperate for him to be admitted at the Hospital. I answered my friend that we have no favoritism, that he will be accepted as long as there is room for him and that he would have to wait for his turn to be admitted if he could afford to do so. I realized time and again that Hospital 57357 will always be the safe haven for children with cancer and the ultimate choice destination of their families. I realized also the magnitude of the challenge facing 57357 for the completion of its expansion project. With your support, we are confident that we can rise up to this challenge. This is how we did it in the past, this is how we will do it for the future.