The Wachet Jivitadana Sangha Hospital

Wachet Jivitadana Sangha Hospital
Geography
Location	Wachet, Sagang Hills, Sagaing, Upper Myanmar, Myanmar (Burma)
Organisation
Hospital type	Monastic, Non-Profit
Services
Beds	50
History
Founded	1984

The Wachet Jivitadana Sangha Hospital is a monastic hospital located in Wachet, Sagaing Hills, Myanmar. The hospital was founded on 20 October 1984 by Sayadaw U Lakkhana (also known as Badandha Lakkhana Sayadaw), an abbot of the Kyaswa Gyaug Monastery in Sagaing. Badandha Lakkhana Sayadaw utilized money donated by monks, nuns, and other donors in Wachet village to establish the hospital.

It was established as a charitable institution, and aimed to provide free medical treatment to monks and nuns. After 19 years, a committee of monks from Kyaswa Monastery made the decision to modernize the small hospital. Since then, it has been significantly up-graded and expanded with the assistance of both local, domestic, and foreign aid. When first established, it was merely a two-story clinic with four rooms. The medical center has grown to be a four-story, 50-bedded facility.^[1] Today, Jivatadana Sangha Hospital provides low-cost health services to monks and nuns, as well as the general public. The medical center provides both traditional and western medicine, as well as acupuncture, to its various patients.

Location

Wachet is a village located in the Sagaing region, in Upper Myanmar, along the Ayeyarwady River. This region in Myanmar is regarded as an important historical and religious destination.^[2] The hospital is located north of the Kyaswa Gyaung Monastery, west of the Sagaing Hills, and east of the Ayeyarwady River.

Kyaswa Monastery and Sayadaw U Lakkhana

Kyaswa Monastery was founded in the 14th century and is located in Wachet Village.^[3] In addition to practicing and teaching Buddhist theology, Kyaswa is highly engaged within its local community and supports community members in a variety of ways. Sayadaw U Lakkhana, the founder of Wachet Jivitadana Sangha Hospital, was the abbot of this monastery and a great benefactor of the Wachet community. He was known as a renowned meditation teacher and spiritual leader in Myanmar and abroad. Throughout his life, Sayadaw traveled extensively to California, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Australia, Nepal, Singapore, and Malaysia to lead Satipatthana meditation retreats.^[1]

In 1988, the Myanmar government awarded him the title of Agga Maha Kammathanacarriya, the highest award for meditation instruction. Through gaining such prominence and acquiring followers worldwide, Sayadaw was able to garner support for his various community projects. In addition to founding Wachet Jivitadana Sangha Hospital, Sayadaw U Lakkhana and the Kyaswa Monastery have accomplished a variety of initiatives including, but not limited to, establishing a primary school in Wachet, providing students with grants for educational studies, and delivering humanitarian relief to civilians after Cyclone Nargis in 2008.^[3] Though Sayadaw U Lakkhana passed away in 2014, his legacy persist and the initiatives which he spearheaded are still being carried out in the region.^[4]

Hospital Profile

Currently, this institution is officially a 50-bedded hospital, but often accommodates up to 200 patients.

Specialist Activity Timetable

The hospital provides a variety of health services throughout the week, but certain procedures, that must be performed by specialists, are only available during certain days and times within the week.^[5] On Sunday, physicians, surgeons, and dental surgeons from Mandalay offer their services from 9 AM to 11AM. The local staff carries out various procedures from 8 AM to 4 PM on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. The acupuncture team from Mandalay, provides services from 9 AM to 11AM on Wednesday and 9AM to 1 PM on Saturday. The dental surgery team from Mandalay also performs procedures from 9AM to 1PM on Saturday. The eye specialist and ENT teams from Mandalay only offer their services, once a week, on Thursday from 3 PM to 4 PM.

Statistics

The hospital collected an assortment of data and produced a pamphlet in 2014 that outlined various statistics related to the health services provided at the hospital in that year. The average number of medical outpatients per month was equal to 131. On average, there was a total of 73 surgical cases and 34 operated cases per month. The average number of dental, ENT, and skin related cases were equal to 341, 59, and 34 per month, respectively. The average number of acupuncture and OPD cases were equal to 322 and 326 per month, respectively. On average, 284 cases per month were treated with traditional medicine.

Facilities and Staff

There are a total of approximately 49 permanent staff members. This includes, but is not limited to, one doctor, five nurses, nine paramedics, and five administrators. The medical center has a total of three operating theatres (OT), each equipped with a variety of both donated and purchased medical equipment.^[5] There is one laser treatment room in the outpatient department. The dental department has a total of five dental chairs within its unit. Additional facilities and departments within the medical center include a laboratory, radiology, and a traditional medicine & acupuncture unit. The hospital is also equipped with emergency generators. The hospital has set aside four air conditioned rooms with bathrooms attached, as well as five beds and bathrooms in the common hall, specifically for special or esteemed guest.

Cost and Expenses

The hospital aims to provide low cost medical services to its patients so that medical expenses do not deter the ill from seeking treatment. The hospital divides its patients into three categories. Each category has a different payment option. The first category includes monks, nuns, and yogis. These patients receive treatment free of charge. Category two includes patients that come from low-income, impoverished, or disadvantaged backgrounds. These patients share the cost of their treatments with the hospital, and are asked to cover a small portion of the total cost. Category three includes all other patients that do not fall into either category one or two. These patients are asked to cover a largely proportion of the total cost of their treatment.

International and Domestic Affiliates

Wachet does not receive funding from the Myanmar government.^[6] Due to the influence of Sayadaw U Lakkhana and the Kyaswa Monastery, the hospital receives funds and volunteers from both domestic and international organizations.^[7] These organizations include, but are not limited to, Japan Heart, RANZCO Eye Foundation, Brighter Future Foundation, and Vipassana Hawai’i.

Japan Heart International Medical Volunteers

Japan Heart is a volunteer-based international health care organization based in Tokyo, Japan and founded in 2004 by Dr. Hideto Yoshioka.^[8] It is dedicated to supporting community development in Japan and abroad through providing health care services and education to disadvantaged communities. Currently, this organization operates in both Myanmar and Cambodia. Japan Heart began its operations at Wachet Hospital in May 2004. They commenced activities in this hospital in order to provide and meet the growing demand for safe low-cost health services in Myanmar. Japanese doctors and nurses, who work as volunteers for this organization, work alongside local Wachet staff members in treating patients. These healthcare professionals also work to develop the knowledge base of and improve the medical techniques utilized by the local Wachet staff members. Japan Heart has aided in the treatment of thousands of Burmese citizens – currently they assist approximately 10,000 outpatients and perform up to 2,000 surgical operations per year.^[9] In 2004, Japan Heart’s medical volunteers conducted, on average, 1001 outpatient procedures per month, and 154 operations per month. Apart from its involvement with Wachet Hospital, Japan Heart has carried out other initiatives in Myanmar. Such initiatives include but are not limited to, the Dream Development Center or "Dream Train", which is a child nurturing facility in Yangon, founded in 2010. In addition, in 2010, with funding from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan Heart opened a training center in Myanmar dedicated to providing the visually impaired with professional vocational training.^[9]

RANZCO Eye Foundation – The Myanmar Eye Care Program

The RANZCO Eye Foundation is a non-profit medical eye specialist’s organization based in Australia.^[10] Founded in 2002, RANZCO represents over 800 Australian and New Zealand medical eye ophthalmologists and is dedicated to funding various initiatives such as sustainable eye care programs in disadvantaged communities in Australia and New Zealand, innovative research pertaining to the causes of vision loss, and community awareness campaigns dedicated to augmenting public knowledge about eye health.^[10] RANZCO collaborates with Wachet Hospital by participating in the sustainable development project The Myanmar Eye Care Program or MECP. Since 2002, the Myanmar Eye Care Program has aimed to reduce the prevalence of preventable vision loss and improve the eye care health system in rural Myanmar. MECP is led by Dr. Geoff Cohn, a Sydney-based ophthalmologist.^[11] Eight times per year, Dr. Cohn leads a team of over 40 Australian eye specialist, technicians, and support staff to the hospital to treat eye diseases such as cataract and glaucoma. This group also provides essential ophthalmic surgical equipment to the hospital and trains local ophthalmic specialists so that they have the ability to carry out eye care procedures in the absence of the Australian team. MECP has performed over 12,000 eye surgeries and currently performs 5,000 each year throughout Myanmar.^[11] In 2014, at Wachet Jivitadana Hospital alone, MECP attended to 1500 patients, conducted 2141 operations, and 322 laser eye treatment procedures. Apart from Wachet Hospital, MECP has provided services to four additional monastery-based eye care centers and one non-monastery-based clinic in Myanmar.^[11]

Brighter Future Foundation – Free Diabetes Clinic

The Brighter Future Foundation (BFF) is a non-profit organization founded by Zwe Nanda and Dr. Thinn Thinn Hlaing in 2005.^[12] BFF strives to improve healthcare in Myanmar through providing health services and equipment to public hospitals, augmenting the education of healthcare professionals, and supporting undergraduate and post graduate medical education in Myanmar. The Brighter Future Foundation provides free diabetes care to patients in Wachet Hospital and has administered services at Wachet twice thus far. In July 2013, they served a total of 270 patients. During this visit the foundation’s team of doctors and additional volunteers offered each patient free blood tests (utilized to evaluate kidney function, the lipid profile, HbA1c, blood glucose, and urine RE) and a one-week supply of medication.^[13] In August 2014, the foundation provided comprehensive health care services to patients with diabetes. Seventeen volunteers provided 260 patients with annual blood tests and physical examinations, in addition to a week supply of donated medication.^[14] In 2004, BFF also donated an Affnion Point of Care HBA1C analyzer, an in vitro diagnostic test that quantifies the glycated hemoglobin level in blood, to the hospital.^[15]

Vipassana Hawai’i – MettaDana Project

Vipassana Hawai’i is an organization, based in Hawai’i, that strives to promote the teachings of Buddha as is preserved in the Pali Canon of the Buddhist Theravada tradition.^[16] In 1995, Steven Smith of Vipassana, in collaboration with Sayadaw U Lakkhana and the Kyaswa Monastery, started the MettaDana project. The project was commenced as a means of giving back to the Wachet Village community. The MettaDana Project is one of the various organizations that play an instrumental role in supporting Wachet Hospital. Through this project, Vipassana Hawai’i continues to provide funding to the Wachet Jivitadana Sangha Hospital; in addition to providing staff support and donating medicines and supplies.^[17] The project supports the education and funds the training of several nurse- assistants. In the past, MettaDana arranged an extensive public health training program on HIV-AIDS, and has funded additional training programs for the hospital’s technical and clerical staff members.^[18] In addition, Vipassana aided in establishing the acupuncture training and treatment program currently available at the hospital.^[19] The MettaDana Project collects charitable donations, which are then distributed to communities in Myanmar through the Kyaswa Monastery. In addition to supporting the Wachet Jivitadana Sangha Hospital, Vipassana Hawai’i has supported other initiatives of the Kyaswa Monastery. Such initiatives include, but are not limited to, providing grants to approximately 300 primary school students in Wachet to cover the cost of their education, contributing funds for the establishment of a primary school in Wachet village, and assisting with humanitarian relief after Cyclone Nargis.^[18]

See also

• Health in Burma

Reference List