Hospital tours put things in perspective

I haven't updated the blog in a while, and this will be a relatively long blog; I apologize in advance!

Every morning I come to Maria Rosa Nsisim hospital and I round with the medical doctor (and nurses). I take notes and notice differences between care provided here, and what I expect to see in a U.S. hospital. When I round, I keep in mind the resource limitations here at the hospital. The medical staff here are doing an excellent job providing care to their patients given the conditions. To put this [private] hospital into perspective and to learn more about hospitals in Cameroon, it had been suggested we visit [public] hospitals to draw differences.
On Wednesday we had that opportunity to visit both a (General) hospital and (District) hospital, both public. Just the ride to these hospitals was quite an adventure, and almost made me nauseous. I couldn't imagine a sick patient having to endure a ride to the hospital like that.
First we visited Yaounde General Hospital, which is the largest hospital in all of this area. Its patient base includes the surrounding areas outside of Yaounde as well. It is a teaching hospital with medical students and nursing students training, although we didn't get to tour any school campus there. It was a very large compound, it has been around for over 50 years (buildings are very old and showing their wear) although ongoing renovations for the past decade, and it was spread out with each department having its own building. We had a very nice nurse, Jacky, show us around to each department.
What I saw there put Maria Rosa Nsisim (MRN) into perspective. The General Hospital had a huge patient load (and large capacity), although it seemed people were waiting everywhere. The buildings as mentioned are very old. The equipment was very limited and many patient beds were in each room (standing screen dividers for privacy). The hospital is capable of treating many types of ailments and seems very well staffed. I spoke to a ER nurse as he was working on a motorcycle accident patient who had a bone sticking out of his leg; the nurse was prepping the leg for surgery. It was quite intense. It was also comforting to see mosquito nets in the maternity ward, to help prevent malaria. I was impressed by the scope of practice at the hospital but not happy with the cleanliness, apparent lack of infection control, and the sheer number of people at the hospital.
The District Hospital was a further drive away and the first building we walked into seemed very well maintained, clean, and newer. There were many people waiting on benches but none in apparent distress. After we toured that building and went across the street to the next building, I realized the first building was their "administrative" building with a few VIP patient suites. It was mostly administrative staff, MD offices, and various other rooms where patients would meet to resolve issues. The second building across the street was the actual hospital. It was in worse shape than the General Hospital. Similar issues were present for this hospital but it seemed even less resources were available. It was much smaller than the General Hospital and had a smaller patient load. Some beds being used did not have mattresses and were only the metal frames. All in all, I realized that MRN is off to a good start and I hope my work out here is beneficial to the people most in need.
There is definite need in this country for improved healthcare. They need to raise the quality of care here. I commend them for their efforts given the limited resources and conditions. All accounts given of the hospitals were based on brief tours (take everything with a grain of salt), and of course these are my personal opinions.