ELWA Hospital
| Eternal Love Winning Africa Hospital | |
|---|---|
| Serving In Mission | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Paynesville, Monrovia, Liberia |
| Coordinates | 6°14′27″N 10°41′45″W / 6.2409°N 10.6958°W |
| Organisation | |
| Type | General hospital |
| Serving In Mission | |
| Services | |
| Yes | |
| Beds | 85 |
| History | |
| Founded | 1965 |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Other links | List of hospitals in Liberia |
Eternal Love Winning Africa Hospital, commonly known as ELWA Hospital, is a Christian mission hospital in Paynesville, near Monrovia, Liberia. It is operated by Serving In Mission (SIM) through ELWA Ministries and provides inpatient, emergency, maternity, surgical, outpatient, laboratory, imaging, pharmacy, and other clinical services.[1][2] The hospital was founded in 1965 to serve the community around the ELWA Radio compound.[2]
History
ELWA Hospital was founded by SIM in 1965 in the community surrounding the ELWA Radio compound in Paynesville, Monrovia.[2] The hospital continued operating during Liberia's civil wars and during the 2014–2016 West African Ebola epidemic.[2][3]
By 2012, the existing hospital infrastructure was considered inadequate, and plans were developed for a replacement facility funded with support from Samaritan's Purse.[4] The new hospital campus was designed by Engineering Ministries International as a fully equipped, expandable hospital, with multiple buildings arranged around courtyards and open-air circulation areas to support infection control and passive cooling.[4] Construction was interrupted by the Ebola outbreak but later resumed.[5] In November 2016, ELWA Hospital opened a new 42,000-square-foot facility contributed by Samaritan's Purse.[2][6]
Facilities and services
ELWA Ministries describes the hospital as an 85-bed health care institution with an 18-bed emergency room, three operating rooms, male, female, surgical and pediatric wards, maternity and postpartum wards, a laboratory, imaging department, eye clinic, pharmacy, and outpatient clinic.[2] Support services include a chaplain's office, HIV/AIDS counselling and treatment, and a diabetes education program.[2] The hospital also functions as a training site for doctors and nurses in Liberia.[2]
In a 2021 study of pharmaceutical care practice at two tertiary hospitals in Monrovia, ELWA Hospital was described as one of Liberia's major referral hospitals. The study stated that ELWA Hospital had about 100 beds at the time.[1]
The hospital campus includes Trinity Dental Clinic, a not-for-profit dental clinic operated as part of SIM's ministry. Trinity Dental Clinic was established in 2008 and moved to its newer location at ELWA Hospital in 2019.[7] The clinic provides dental examinations, radiographs, cleanings, fillings, root canal treatment, extractions, acrylic dentures, and treatment for some oral and maxillofacial conditions.[7]
A study by Sampson K. P. Chea and Eric Woode, found that ELWA Hospital had limited pharmaceutical care documentation and one licensed pharmacist assisted by two intern pharmacists during the study period (2021).[1]
Role during the Ebola epidemic
During the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Liberia, ELWA Hospital became one of the major sites associated with the response in Monrovia. Dr. Kent Brantly, a Samaritan's Purse physician working at ELWA Hospital, testified before the United States Congress that he began work at ELWA in October 2013 and that the hospital received its first Ebola patients in June 2014.[8] Brantly contracted Ebola while serving at ELWA and was later evacuated to Emory University Hospital in the United States.[6]
On 17 August 2014, Médecins Sans Frontières opened a 120-bed Ebola treatment unit known as ELWA 3 on the grounds of Eternal Love Winning Africa Hospital.[9] Time reported that the ELWA 3 center was built in two weeks and was designed to separate suspected and confirmed Ebola cases while reducing risk to medical staff.[10]
After the main epidemic period, the ELWA Clinic provided care for Ebola survivors. A 2018 study in Open Forum Infectious Diseases described the Eternal Love Winning Africa Clinic as the first clinic in Liberia to provide free, comprehensive care to Ebola virus disease survivors, covering patients seen from January 2015 through March 2017.[11] A separate study in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases described development of a screening eye clinic at ELWA Hospital for Ebola survivors at risk of uveitis and retinal disease.[12]
Infrastructure
In 2018, African Mission Healthcare contacted International Technical Electric & Construction to explore solar-power options for the ELWA Hospital campus, which relied heavily on diesel generation.[3] Following an eleven-day survey in April 2019, I-TEC proposed a phased energy system including a grid-tied solar array and battery backup to reduce fuel costs and improve resilience for the hospital campus.[3]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 Chea, Sampson K. P.; Woode, Eric (2022). "Investigation of Pharmaceutical Care Practice in Two Tertiary Health Care Facilities in Central Monrovia, Liberia". Asian Journal of Research in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences. 11 (2): 26–35.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "ELWA Hospital". ELWA Ministries. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
- 1 2 3 "ELWA Hospital (Liberia)". International Technical Electric & Construction. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
- 1 2 "ELWA Hospital, Liberia". Engineering Ministries International. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
- ↑ "Construction Resumes on Hospital in Liberia". Samaritan's Purse. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
- 1 2 "ELWA Hospital Dedicated in Liberia". Samaritan's Purse. 22 October 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
- 1 2 "Trinity Dental Clinic". Trinity Dental Clinic. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
- ↑ "Global Efforts to Fight Ebola". Hearing before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Government Publishing Office. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
- ↑ "First Responders and Facilities". Ebola: People + Public Health + Political Will. David J. Sencer CDC Museum. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
- ↑ Sifferlin, Alexandra (19 August 2014). "Doctors Without Borders Opens New Ebola Ward in Liberia". Time. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
- ↑ de St Maurice, A. (2018). "Care of Ebola Survivors and Factors Associated With Clinical Sequelae—Monrovia, Liberia". Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 5 (10) ofy239. doi:10.1093/ofid/ofy239. PMC 6202424. PMID 30386807.
- ↑ Shantha, J. G. (2019). "Development of a screening eye clinic for Ebola virus disease survivors: Lessons learned and rapid implementation at ELWA Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 13 (3) e0007209. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0007209. PMC 6407791. PMID 30840652.