A need for a new eye clinic

A new exciting development of my task here in Kolandoto has happened! During the first day almost two weeks ago, we were showed around at the hospital and also had a meeting with some of the management and the people working with water. At that meeting it turned out that the hospital is planning to extend its eye department with a new building containing an eye clinic. The hospital was looking for funding to be able to construct this building, and were supposed to write a justification document showing why this eye clinic building is needed, and then pass the document on to an NGO that will start fundraising. So, I did a short and intense consultancy task of improving a draft of this justification document with more illustrations, pictures and texts over the weekend. This whole situation of a donor asking for a convincing and illustrative document justifying a need, is to me a clear example of that an architectural masterplan would be of great use for the hospital management to have ownership over the long-term development of the hospital. 

The eye ward and clinic building. 

Anatomy of the eye.

Part of the problem is that the inpatient ward and the outpatient clinic for eyes currently are located within the same building. First, this causes a severe shortage of space to be able to accommodate all the eye health care services and it causes a lot of congestion in the entrance to the building. Second, the layout compromises infection control due to that inpatient and outpatient flows meet which could lead to easy transmission of diseases and infections among patients. 

The current building layout with zones and flows. 

Two inpatients walking towards the entrance. 

In the beginning of the following week we had a meeting with the whole management team at Kolandoto Hospital and Kolandoto College, where we discussed the whole collaboration project concerning infrastructure of water, buildings and electricity. The project was very well received among the management team. Matters ranging from the set-up of the project, to details of installing a new pump, and to concerns for the design of the new eye clinic building were adressed. 

The management team meeting. 

After some more in-depth discussions that has taken place the last few days, I have been asked to make a proposal for the design of the new eye clinic building. I am very happy to do this. And with a bit of luck there might even be available funding for constructing the building, depending on how the fundraising goes. Exciting times! 

A preliminary site plan identifying a possible site for the new building. 

/Annika