1)  General Medicine (consultation)

St. John of God Hearth Centre is a faith based Health Unit in Boko is run by the Hospitaller Brothers of

St. John of God under the catholic archdiocese of Douala. It was created in 2010 to take care of

the sick, poor, the needy and underprivileged people within the Boko village which is a suburb of Douala.

It is located in Ndok Passi health district in the littoral province some 30 kilometres from Douala city. 

According to the NISC (2015) the population of Cameroon in 2013 was estimated to about 21,143,237

persons and a population density of 45.40 persons per square kilometer. The annual growth rate is

estimated at 2.6%. The population distribution according to age group is as follows;
 Less than 5 years: 16.80%
 5 to 14 years: 26.20%
 15 to 24 years: 21.10%
 25 to 64 years: 32.40%
 65 years and older: 3.50%

In 2005, the life expectancy was 54.80 years (women was 57.10 years, compared with 53.40 years for men).
Out of the above population of Cameroon a total of 2,788,352(two million seven hundred and eighty eight thousand three hundred and fifty two) inhabitants are living in the Littoral region (Douala) of Cameroon. Boko village has a thick population of 398,336 inhabitants. Out of this population our catchment area allocated by the ministry of public health has a fast growing population of 49,792 inhabitants.

The climate is similar to the Sahara desert with very high temperature during the dry season. During the rainy season, it very muddy and difficult to move.In 2015, the ministry of public health through the district health service nominated our health centre in Boko as a focal point for expanded programme of immunisation (EPI) within the Boko plateau. This EPI campaign covers poliomyelitis, yellow fever, meningitis, cholera, RPV.

Pastoral Care - Our new ideal in Healthcare

          John of God, the founder of the Brothers of St John of God, following his conversion and his

dramatic experience in the psychiatric hospital in Granada, has bequeathed to us a new model 

of care for the sick and needy. This model enables those in need to be welcomed in and

cared for, lovingly and comprehensively. This form of religious care, which is rooted in Christ as

the source of health and salvation provides for and the spiritual accompaniment of the sick
and needy, their families and our Co-workers. Therefore it forms an integral part of our hospitaller

mission in addition to being a “right of the sick”. “The religious care of the sick forms part of the

broader sphere of the pastoral care of the sick, that is to say, the presence and work of the Church

to take the word and the grace of Our Lord to those who are suffering and those who care for them”.

Castro, our Founder’s first biographer, said that, “John’s charitable work kept him busy all day long, and in the evening when he returned home however exhausted he might be, he never went to bed without first visiting ever patient, one by one, asking them how they had spent their day, how they were and what they needed, and in very loving language he would give them spiritual comfort and relief for their body” (Castro XIV). ). In a society which self-love is becoming increasingly more entrenched love for others, outreach to others and the capacity to listen to others must be developed.
The example set by Juan Ciudad shows us how to practise hospitality and perform the pastoral care of the sick witnessing to the Gospel among the sick and the needy and proclaiming the Word which gives meaning to the life of
believers. Juan Ciudad took in the abandoned poor, sick and crippled people he found in the
streets ministered corporal and spiritual care to them: “I wish to give you spiritual physician to heal your souls. Afterwards a cure for the body will be found.”(Castro XII). 

Our age provides us with an opportunity to offer tangible and prophetic witness to the way the value of human life and the dignity of the human person are increasingly losing their meaning. This carries the risk that even our own structures and our Co-workers may lose their sensitivity as time passes, and our striving to perform a mission to foster the dignity and the sacred character of human life may also slacken. The Pastoral Care of the Sick is one of the ways in which the Church is present in the world of health care and welfare to treat and assist people, in order to accompany, evangelise and save them through Christ, the Good Samaritan of humanity.

It is the task of our Hospitaller Family which works in so many different parts of the world to set about providing very carefully prepared spiritual and religious assistants to the sick, their families and our co-workers.

Rev Br Robert Mackaloy and his team - 2016

Waiting loby for consultation - 2016

Patients awaiting consultation - 2016

The staff + superior - 2016

The water reserve tank - 2016

some visiting benefactors

Our signpost - 2016

      BOKO Village

2)  Hospitalisation

4)  Laboratory Analysis

     

3)  Maternity

5)  X-ray Laboratory

     

6)  Dentist Services