The Lifeline Beneath Our Feet: Why Clean Water Matters at Sinje Hospital
When Dr. Monique Wubbenhorst, Chief Medical Officer of Healing: Global, visited Sinje Hospital in Liberia earlier this year, she wasn't just there to tour the facility. She came to listen.
As Healing: Global begins its partnership with Sinje Hospital, Dr. Wubbenhorst met with physicians, nurses, and hospital leaders to better understand the challenges they face every day. Among them was Dr. Tobias Patrick Turay, a General Practitioner who oversees one of the hospital's most critical departments—the only Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Grand Cape Mount County.
For Dr. Turay, one need rose above all the others.
Water.
"In terms of water, that's very crucial, that's very important," he explained. "For the NICU, we usually have a challenge with infection prevention and control. The little we can do in terms of water, that is very, very important. To have the mothers washing their hands before they can even touch their babies."
His words highlight a reality that is easy to overlook: in healthcare, clean water isn't simply a convenience. It is essential to saving lives.
Caring for the Smallest Patients
A Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU, provides specialized care for babies born prematurely or with serious medical conditions. These newborns have underdeveloped immune systems, making them especially vulnerable to infection.
One of the simplest and most effective ways to protect these fragile infants is proper hand hygiene. Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) refers to the practices healthcare workers use to stop harmful germs from spreading within hospitals. Without reliable access to clean water, those basic safeguards become much harder to maintain.
For Dr. Turay and his team, something as simple as making sure mothers can wash their hands before holding their babies can make a profound difference.
A Hospital Serving Thousands
Sinje Hospital is far more than a local clinic. It serves approximately 7,774 people across 33 surrounding communities with a team of 68 medical staff and 15 volunteers. The hospital provides primary healthcare, maternity services, surgical care—including Caesarean deliveries—eye care, dentistry, and specialized neonatal care.
Despite the dedication of its staff, the hospital's water system is inadequate. Storage reservoirs leak badly, the existing water supply is vulnerable to contamination, and staff often have to cross a busy road just to collect water for patient care.
Reliable water access affects nearly every part of healthcare—from washing hands and sterilizing surgical instruments to cleaning delivery rooms and protecting patients from hospital-acquired infections. An operating room or maternity procedure alone may require around 100 liters of water, while hospitalized patients need 40 to 60 liters every day to safely meet their medical and sanitation needs.
A Lasting Investment
Healing: Global is partnering with Sinje Hospital to help change this reality by funding the construction of a new drilled water well and reservoir within the hospital grounds.
The project represents an investment of approximately $25,322, but its impact will extend far beyond the cost.
Reliable, on-site access to clean water will improve sanitation throughout the hospital, strengthen infection prevention efforts, support safer surgeries and deliveries, and make it easier for mothers, patients, and healthcare workers to practice the hygiene that saves lives every day.
For Dr. Turay, the importance of the project comes back to the smallest patients in his care.
"The little we can do in terms of water," he said, "that is very, very important."
Sometimes the most transformative improvements in healthcare aren't new buildings or advanced technology.
Sometimes they begin with something as simple—and as life-giving—as clean water flowing where it's needed most.
Healing: Global is committed to walking alongside the staff at Sinje Hospital as they continue providing compassionate, high-quality care to their community. Together, we can help ensure that every doctor, every nurse, every mother, and every newborn has access to one of the most basic necessities for healing: safe, clean water.
You can help make this project a reality. Donate today at www.healingglobal.org/give.