Medical Center

Completing the medical module of the Dassa-Zoumé centre benefits two populations that are currently excluded from the conventional healthcare system. The new medical-surgical wing, built on the premises of the Dassa-Zoumé Mental Health Center, is designed to meet the physical health needs of 350 patients and, in a second phase, those of the surrounding community, replicating the model already in place at the Adjarra hospital.

For the local population

• Access to surgery, maternity care and emergency care without having to travel to Cotonou or Porto-Novo
• High-quality, low-cost medical care in an area with limited healthcare infrastructure
• Strengthening of the regional health care system, with a facility that aims to be recognised as a regional hospital
• Creation of skilled local jobs: healthcare, technical and administrative staff

For the patients of the 18 Saint Camille centres

• Many people with mental illness are turned away from conventional hospitals, where staff either do not know how to handle them or fear the stigma associated with them
• A medical unit within the centre itself allows wounds, infections and childbirth to be treated, and surgery to be performed, without discrimination, in a safe environment already familiar to the patient
• Prevention of deaths from untreated physical illnesses, currently the leading cause of preventable mortality in these facilities
• Continuity between psychiatric and physical care, with the same team and the same trusting environment