Project HOPE Staff Welcomes NBA All-Star Dikembe Mutombo to Shanghai Children’s Medical Center
Mutombo, founder of the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, tours Shanghai's pediatric center of choice
Staff from Project HOPE, an international health education and humanitarian assistance organization, and hospital officials at Shanghai Children’s Medical Center (SCMC) hosted NBA All-Star Dikembe Mutombo as he toured the facility known as one of the country’s leading pediatric medical treatment centers and training facilities for health professionals.
The Dikembe Mutombo Foundation opened the doors to the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital (named after Mutombo’s mother) in December 2007. Mutombo came to SCMC to learn about the successful partnership between Project HOPE and SCMC which has provided better health for the children of China, invaluable education for medical professionals, and on-going donations of state-of-the-art medical equipment.
“Dikembe Mutombo is an athlete known equally for his accomplishments on and off the basketball court. His dedication to improving health for people in need is evident in his achievement of building a modern hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that not only focuses on health care, but health education .” said John P. Howe, III, M.D., President and CEO of Project HOPE. “It was an honor for our staff to share with him the successes of SCMC.”
The 11-year-old Shanghai Children’s Medical Center is one of Project HOPE’s major achievements in its 26-year history in China. HOPE was involved with the development of the facility from the beginning, providing more than $30 million in state-of-the-art medical equipment from its corporate partners for the hospital and providing lifesaving health education to countless numbers of medical professionals. Staff at the hospital now serve more than 880,000 outpatients, admit more than 12,500 inpatients and perform more than 2,600 pediatric heart surgeries annually.
“I was very impressed and very touched by the work that Project HOPE is doing at the Shanghai Children’s’ Medical Center,” said Dikembe Mutombo, Chairman and President of the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, Inc.. “It was good to see how many lives have been saved there, especially the lives of our young children, the cornerstone of our society to help them to grow healthy without disease and medical problems.”
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About Project HOPE
Founded in 1958, Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) is dedicated to providing lasting solutions to health problems with the mission of helping people to help themselves. Identifiable to many by the SS HOPE, the world’s first peacetime hospital ship, Project HOPE now provides medical training and health education, as well as conducts humanitarian assistance programs in more than 35 countries. For more information, please visit www.projecthope.org
About the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation
Founded in 1997, the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation is dedicated to improving the health, education and quality of life for the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Foundation strives to accomplish this goal not only by providing comprehensive health care at the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital, but also through an emphasis on primary health care and disease prevention, the promotion of health policy, health research and increased access to health care education for the people of the Congo. For more information, please visit www.dmf.org