title: Exacerbation of vulnerability in a hospital setting in Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of Congo).
abstract: This article presents an ethnographic study of the pseudonymous Saint Amand Hospital in Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of Congo) and of the way in which struggles for control of the hospital's resources contributed to shape certain practices that were damaging to the institution. We examine how, following the disengagement of both the State and a large bankrupt mining enterprise, the 'atypical' governance of the hospital and the institutional instability it generated led to professional vulnerability among care providers. We also look at how, in turn, this situation exacerbated the vulnerability of the helpless and uneducated patients attending that hospital.
authors.affiliation: Lubumbashi University, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo. aimekakudji@gmail.com
authors.forename: Aimé
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kakudji Kyungu
mesh_terms: D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D010564:Personnel, Hospital; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D035862:Vulnerable Populations