The logistical needs of healthcare institutes are based on a number of factors, including their respective environments, and the demographic of patients they tend to see. Some locations are centered towards a singular specialization, while others are sweeping provider centers with numerous departments.

Frances Nelson Clinic is a comfortable and low-profile location geared towards quick check-ups and counseling service. Each appointment room is minimalistically stocked, with the necessary vitals and documentation equipment. The shopping list of a place like this will likely be limited to paperwork and disposables, which would include examination gloves, tongue depressors, tooth-cleaning tools, and thermometers.

Carle Hospital is a much more substantial beast of a setting, with departments ranging from cancer research, to obstetrics, to a level-1 trauma center. Both from watching the interview/video, as well as experience I have from working in the Carle emergency room and volunteering in other departments, I noted Carle’s most outspoken issue is a lack of manpower. Tech positions are often understaffed, though the hospital itself boasts an impressive resource list, as evidenced it being the main Central Illinois drop-off for critical patients delivered by the AirLife helicopter program. An increase in national or state training of qualified providers at the entry levels, perhaps through collegiate educational programs, could yield improved staff figures.

The Sierra Leone clinic was much more bare-bones, as evidenced by some of the emphasis on providing patients with a positive morale system. The undersupplied staff maximizes chances for fast and effective recovery. The wealthier hospitals are backed by their impressive technology, while these institutes throw their cards in a few more hats. I noticed that they do not have ways to replenish supplies by the bulk, because they are delivered in baskets set on the rears of motorbikes. In addition, their obstetrics equipment is much more crude than at Carle, as they do not offer UV for jaundice treatment or incubator chambers for neonates. Supply of these devices as well as the training of safe operation would prove very beneficial.

The Nyakibale Emergency Department looks a little more supplied than the SL clinic, but it was still noticeable they lacked some of the technology enjoyed by Carle. A lot more of documentation was still on paper; stuffed in laminated binders, and not joint-electronic. Patient beds did not have personal ceiling curtains, instead requiring portable screens that were stowed against the wall when not set up. Their literature references were placed in a wooden cabinet that also had space divvied for medical and cleaning supplies. The last and most encapsulating thing that was noted was the way the video host introduced the facility. She mentioned new additions such as a “brand new light” for one of their patient bed cells. When trauma centers in the United States get new equipment, it would be more along the lines of a new hyperbaric chamber, nodding towards the separate perspectives of practicing in areas of different socioeconomic settings. Like with the SL clinic, the financial means to acquire more supplies as well as area expansion of the facility would be helpful.