The Van Norman Clinic (VNC) established in 2012 as a health care outreach for Hope Africa University, is marking eight years of service.  The Clinic continues to grow in its service to the local Bujumbura community.  Already in 2020, it has served over 25,000 individual patients in general medicine, gynecology and obstetrics, pediatrics, internal medicine, dentistry, and surgery.  Paramedical services are available in family planning, vaccinations, pharmacy, radiology, and community medicine.  The average monthly patient population is close to 5,500 and increasing.  Over the last two years, the clinic has seen an increase in the number of children under 10 it is serving and is giving more attention to its pediatric services.

In addition to its patient care, the clinic is an essential part of HAU’s medical training program for increasing the number of African doctors and nurses.  Doctors in HAU’s medical school start their education in Bujumbura and complete their training at the hospital in Kibuye. 

The tremendous growth at VNC brings with it new needs for support.  The clinic is quickly growing out of it present facility and is in need of addition space for patient care and for medical training. One of the immediate needs is for increasing and modernizing its water supply, which means digging a new well and pumping capacity to get water to the clinic.  Adequate and clean water is essential for maintaining sterile conditions in a medical setting. The Clinic also wants to increase the number of doctors and nurses it can help train.  Scholarships for medical training are important to help Burundians and other African pre-med students access medical education and support the patients at Van Norman Clinic.