Saudi Charity “Ahyaha” and Dr. Sultan Bahebry Visit CCHE, Seeking to Establish a Children’s Cancer Hospital in Madinah City, Saudi Arabia

Tag Archives: pediatric oncology

Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357 (CCHE) is well-known in Egypt and amongst its neighbors for its many pioneering initiatives and achievements. Amidst these achievements has been assisting a Sudanese charity in establishing a hospital in Sudan using CCHE’s model. In light of this, CCHE recently welcomed the former CEO of the King Faisal Hospital in Saudi Arabia, Dr. Sultan Bahebry, for a visit which marked the beginning of the visualization of the Saudi Children’s Cancer Hospital in Madinah City. The visit focused on building cooperation in the departments of training, development and scientific research. Dr. Bahebry was joined on his visit by a small delegation from the Saudi Charity known as Ahyaha, which is designated to carry out the future plans for the hospital.

“CCHE is an achievements that the Arab world is very proud of because of its stature amidst the pediatric oncology centers at the world level”, said Dr. Bahebry. He also stated that the undertakers of the Saudi Children’s Cancer Hospital look forward to benefiting from the experience and expertise of CCHE, particularly in the fields of training, development and scientific research. Dr. Bahebry suggested that this best be achieved through designing an extensive cooperation program between the two institutions.

The distinguished visitors were taken on a tour throughout CCHE and the Children’s Cancer Hospital Foundation (CCHF) by CCHE staff in which they were exposed to the various departments of the hospital as well as introduced to cutting-edge technologies and equipment. They were also briefed on the rigorous fundraising strategy that CCHE, in tandem with ECN, undertakes in order to support their efforts. The visit was concluded by a meeting with Dr. Sherif Abouelnaga, CCHE’s Vice-President for Research, Academic Affairs and Outreach. This final encounter was an opportunity for Dr. Abouelnaga to share CCHE’s vision for its future expansion with the visitors. For more information about the CCHE Expansion Project, please click here.

CCHE is continually putting knowledge into action in order to locate a cure for the ailments of its patients. Its processes are based on experiences derived from the endless pursuit of CCHE’s researchers to improve the outcomes of its patients and exchange knowledge with other large entities in the field of pediatric oncology. An example of this is the recently-initiated joint International Fellowship Program in pediatric oncology which was launched in collaboration with the Dana-Farber Children’s Hospital Cancer Center (DFCHCC) and ECN.

The visit was finalized with a discussion pertaining to future cooperation between the Children’s Cancer Hospital in Madinah City and CCHE, in which Dr. Abouelnaga expressed his approval of the cooperative spirit and reiterated his willingness to assist Dr. Bahebry and the Ahyahya organization in replicating the CCHE model in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Arab world.

Please support the naming opportunity program that Egypt Cancer Network 57357 shares with its partners, Association of Friends of the National Cancer Institute (AFNCI) and Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357 (CCHE). The Naming Opportunity program is specially crafted to commemorate your loved ones while simultaneously providing the framework from which CCHE and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) can continue to treat Egypt’s cancer-stricken children. It must be noted that it was from within the ranks of NCI that the notion of CCHE was first born, and it was NCI’s campus that provided the initial training to the CCHE staff.

Several years ago NCI’s administration opted to move all of NCI’s services into one of the two towers in the complex as it was recognized that one of the towers were in dire need of structural renovations. While this decision was made from the perspective of ensuring the safety of patients and staff, it simultaneously made the functioning tower crowded and congested. It was determined that at least five years would be required in order to reinforce the tower and expand on the current NCI campus.

The form in which the campus will be renovated is through the creation of a new structure designated to house 43 out-patient clinics, making space for an anticipated 1600 visitors per day. This new edifice will make room inside the main tower for chemotherapy treatment and other more complicated services and will offer consultation services as well as dispense medication and draw blood. The cost of the complex is estimated at 16 million Egyptian pounds or $2.6 million.

According to Engineer Zaid Al-Baroodi, who oversees the construction of the new complex, once funding is secured then the time needed for the complex to be operational will be cut down to just six months. An increase in funding in the immediate time frame would permit this window presented by Eng. Al-Baroodi to become a reality, and would therefore permit the speedy and efficient delivery of services to patients and restore a healthy environment for both patients and staff. Both the preliminary design and the final design were donated by Look Pavilion Firm and EHAF Consulting Engineers Firm, respectively. The construction phase is already underway.

To date AFNCI, with the help of its partners, has already accumulated a lengthy list of accomplishments pertaining to NCI including the construction of a cytogenetic lab, a pediatric oncology outpatient clinic, the first clinical pharmacy in Egypt, and the initial construction phases of CCHE. AFNCI has also held blood drives, supplied medicines, and hired security and building personnel for NCI, while also supporting radiology services at CCHE and transporting patients to other cancer treatment centers.

AFNCI has also supported CCHE in its design, construction and management, handling all of these tasks and more before involving Children’s Cancer Hospital Foundation 57357 (CCHF) and to other CCHE partners like ECN. CCHE still receives much assistance from AFNCI today, particularly in the realm of supporting special projects that distinguish CCHE from other institutions as a leading center for children’s care in Egypt, the region and beyond.

Egypt Cancer Network 57357and AFNCI, herein referred to as ECN, is a U.S. based non-profit,501(c)3 to which all donations made are tax-deductible. Its mission is to provide resources to Egyptian hospitals and non-profit organizations focused on cancer in the areas of patient care, scientific advancement and education.

For more information about naming opportunities at CCHE and NCI, please visit http://egyptcancernetwork.org/naming-opportunities/ to begin the process. A naming opportunity can be named in the legacy of a family, a loved one or a corporation and can be in the form of rooms, wings and equipment.

ECN sponsored two of Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357’s (CCHE) staff, Operations Director Eng. Ayman Ibrahim and Pediatric Oncology Registrar Dr. Claudia Mousa, and to attend the Cerner Health Conference in Kansas City, Missouri from October 7-10, 2012. They then went on to visit St. Judes in Memphis, Tennessee as the second component of their ECN-sponsored trip.

At the Cerner Health Conference Mr. Ibrahim and Ms. Mousa learned about the notion of “power chart oncology” and drafted an implementation scheme for such a power chart, providing insight into possible areas of improvement in the current module being used by CCHE. They also looked into improvements via M-Page, Powertouch and Dragoon 3600 technologies, as well as implementing lights on applications and a better patient summary discharge process, all potential means of updating the CCHE electronic medical record system. It must be noted that CCHE has more highly integrated medical records than 96% of American hospitals. Such medical records produce many benefits, including making patient information more readily available to doctors who need them.

Upon their return, the pair provided CCHE and ECN with a copy of their action plan for CCHE to further build upon their education.

The sponsorship of these two distinguished individuals is a prime example of ECN’s commitment to furthering the educational repertoire of qualified Egyptian doctors. It is our expectation that they will take their lessons learned and put them into practice at home in order to benefit pediatric oncology in Egypt as a whole. Below is a letter sent to us by both doctors detailing their trip and summarizing the impact of their shared experiences on their future work at CCHE:

“It has only been a few days since our insightful trip to the US, which could not have been possible without ECN’s financial support and its firm belief in the worthiness of promoting Hospital 57357’s mission: offering quality healthcare and [the chance for a] cure to a maximum number of children with cancer in Egypt and the surrounding region.

We feel blessed for having been given the opportunity to attend the annual Cerner conference in Kansas, where we were exposed to the latest developments in pediatric oncology informatics, and later to observe St. Jude’s Hospital how other similar centers are implementing and making maximum use of the Cerner pediatric oncology informatics technology.

Grateful for this eye-opening experience, we return home enthusiastic and eager to make the best of what we have been exposed to, having been encouraged by the fact that our own work experience at Hospital 57357 is of value and impact to other centers as well for the ultimate purpose of improving over-all outcomes of children with cancer around the world.

This trip has been beneficial in highlighting how we could optimize the usage of our informatics resources and how we can upgrade our Cerner system. Networking with other Medical/IT teams at the conference and at the St. Jude opened up new opportunities for collaboration and exchange to enhance our ability to effectively offer the best quality services to our patients.

Again, we would like to thank ECN for its continuous support. We, in turn, pledge to put into action all the knowledge we have received. In this respect, we have prepared a detailed plan of action with a timeline for various tasks and procedures which we look forward to implement immediately to enhance and sustain performance and healthcare services’ quality. “

Mr. Ibrahim Higazy, a renowned sports presenter and journalist, was welcomed by Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357 (CCHE) in the third week of October 2012 and spent his time encouraging the patients. In doing so he referenced his history as a soldier in the Egyptian army in the 1970s, during which he served Egypt in a particularly trying time in the region’s history.

It was eleven years ago that Mr. Higazy helped spur the fundraising campaign amongst secondary school and college students to raise 22 million Egyptian pounds to build the original CCHE complex. Mr. Higazy has again vouched his support for the expansion of the current CCHE campus, the next major project at hand, to which ECN is a major contributor.

Noting his service in his conversations with the children, he attested to the fact that “cancer itself is a difficult battle” but that the compassionate treatment that CCHE 57357 gives its patients lessens the burden. He was extremely impressed by CCHE not only for its existence as a state-of-the-art pediatric oncology center, but also by the quality of the services provided to children for free. In his closing words to a small assembled audience of Egyptian and American expatriates, he remarked that a visit to CCHE would prove to anyone that anything is possible when people work together as a team.