Christian Medical Institute of the Kasai (IMCK)
The Christian Medical Institute of the Kasai is a large, multiservice health facility. Photo by Bob Ellis.
Good Shepherd Hospital
Tshikaji, Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Christian Medical Institute of the Kasai (IMCK) is a multiservice health complex located in Tshikaji, nine miles from Kananga, the hub of central Congo. Founded in 1954 by the American Presbyterian Congo Mission, the facilities and services at IMCK now include a 160-bed reference/teaching hospital, schools of nursing and laboratory technology, a clinical teaching program for medical school students, a residency program in Family Medicine and a range of community health programs. The teaching hospital at IMCK, Good Shepherd Hospital, has programs in OB/Gyn, internal medicine, ophthalmology and dentistry. The relative peace of the Kasai region during recent years has allowed IMCK to reestablish one of its original goals of giving technical support to Presbyterian and Mennonite health programs in the Kasai regions.
The Community Health Program at IMCK runs over a dozen satellite centers, with mobile heath units providing a child preventive medicine outreach program with “Under 5's Clinics” in outlying villages. It also runs a nutrition center in Tshikaji for the care of malnourished children.
Leadership for the many services of IMCK is provided through our partner, the Presbyterian Community of Congo (CPC). Dr. John Fletcher is a mission co-worker serving as a surgeon, instructor and also as interim health coordinator for the CPC. Ruth Brown, a new mission co-worker based in Kananga, is completing language training in preparation for her service as a development specialist with the CPC. From the United States, IMCK is supported by a cadre of mission alumni, members of the Congo Mission Network and the Medical Benevolence Foundation.
Political and economic strife in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have burdened IMCK with shortages, and the challenge of providing care for an impoverished population. At IMCK, no one is denied care for lack of the ability to pay. The Presbyterian Church (USA) supports IMCK Good Shepherd Hospital through Extra Commitment Opportunities (Account #320202.) The Community Health Program is supported through ECO #320402.
