St Luke’s Hospital, Chipata

St Luke’s Hospital in Chipata in eastern Zambia opened in April 2023, treating 3,000 patients in its first month. We’re particularly proud of this project as all funds for the hospital’s construction and its equipment have been provided by DAFA.

As one of Zambia’s poorest cities, Chipata is desperately in need of new medical services and the hospital promises to be one of DAFA’s most impactful projects in recent years.

Situated on a hill in a compound of 10,000 of the neediest inhabitants of Chipata, the hospital sits just a few kilometres from the border with Malawi, one of Africa’s poorest nations, and as such is an essential lifeline for about 60,000 local people on both sides of the border. 

The hospital includes a maternity unit with pre-natal and post-natal care, an operating theatre, a laboratory, x-ray and ultrasound departments, eye and dental clinics, in-patient wards with a hostel for relatives, staff housing, and a morgue.

Funds raised from Bellewstown in 2021 and 2022 were spent completing building works and buying essential hospital equipment including the x-ray and ultrasound machines. More equipment is still needed and we hope money raised this year can be spent on theatre lights, lab machinery and a computer system. An upgrade to the lab with a blood analysis machine is planned for January 2024. Other equipment still needed includes oxygen concentrators, mortuary fridges, laundry equipment, and basics such as sheets, pillows and blankets.