Malawi

Established: 2002
Specialty: Orthopedics
Number of Doctors: 6
Number of Nurses: 34
Number of Beds: 66
Patients seen annually: 4,000
Number of operations annually: 2,100

The Beit CURE International Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi is a 66-bed teaching hospital that specializes in treating the orthopedic needs of children and adults. The facility was opened in 2002 and serves children with physical disabilities regardless of their ethnic background, religious affiliation or ability to pay.

Approximately 800 patients are admitted each year to the CURE Hospital and more than 2,100 surgeries are performed annually at the hospital. On average more than 300 outpatient visits are provided each month. The CURE hospital in Malawi has special expertise in total hip and knee replacement surgery, one of the very few places where this surgery is available in Sub-Saharan Africa. The hospital maintains the only registry of people who had this surgery in Africa. Surgery is performed to treat a wide range of orthopedic conditions including clubfoot, burn contractures, osteomyelitis and other acquired or congenital conditions. The CURE hospital also provides physiotherapy and chiropractic services.

The hospital maintains an orthopedic clinical officer training program. This program trains nurses to work as orthopedic physician extenders to serve outlying areas. The hospital also conducts monthly mobile clinics to identify children in remote areas who can be served by the hospital and to provide follow-up care to those who have received surgery.

Expansion at Blantyre

Through a grant from the Beit Trust in the United Kingdom, Beit CURE Malawi will be adding one additional operating theatre.  This will provide space for additional surgeries and training.

Smile Train Collaboration

Since the fall of 2006, in collaboration with Smile Train, CURE has developed cleft lip and cleft palate surgical training programs in most of CURE's hospitals worldwide. These programs have been piloted in Afghanistan and in the Dominican Republic. CURE will train 20 surgeons in the correction of cleft lip/palate surgery each year.