Christian Medical Institute of the Kasai (IMCK)

Good Shepherd Hospital

The Christian Medical Institute of the Kasai (IMCK) is a multi-service health complex located in Tshikaji, nine miles from Kananga, the hub of central Congo. Founded in 1954 by the American Presbyterian Congo Mission, the facilities and services at IMCK now include a 160-bed reference/teaching hospital, schools of nursing and laboratory technology, a clinical teaching program for medical school students, a residency program in Family Medicine, and a range of community health programs. The teaching hospital at IMCK, Good Shepherd Hospital, has programs in OB/Gyn, internal medicine, ophthalmology and dentistry. The relative peace of the Kasai region during this past year has allowed IMCK to reestablish one of it original goals of giving technical support to Presbyterian and Mennonite health programs in the Kasai regions.

The Community Health Program at IMCK runs over a dozen satellite centers, with mobile heath units providing a child preventive medicine outreach program with "Under 5's Clinics" in outlying villages. It also runs a nutrition center in Tshikaji for the care of malnourished children.

Leadership for the many services of IMCK is provided through our partner, the Communaute Presbyterienne au Congo (CPC), and by the Medical Director, Dr. Leon Mubikayi. Mission Co-Workers now serving the health programs of CPC are Dr. Michael Hanninger and Nancy Hanninger.

Political and economic strife in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have burdened IMCK with shortages, the looting of supplies and equipment and the challenge of providing care for an impoverished population. At IMCK, no one is denied care for lack of the ability to pay. Current priority needs of IMCK include equipment, improvements to their water system and financial assistance for charity care.