Started as a small outpatient clinic in 2010, the Lion Heart Medical Centre (LHMC) has grown into a fully equipped, second-line hospital with 80 beds divided over male, female, children, isolation and maternity wards. There are also several private rooms available. The hospital has an operating theatre for surgeries, a modern, digital X-Ray machine, four ultrasound machines, oxygen concentrators, a recently renovated delivery room, a department for patients with chronic wounds and fractures, and a dental health department.
In addition, there is a laboratory with a blood bank, a well-stocked pharmacy, and a canteen serving healthy foods. The hospital has 24/7 electricity, provided by our own solar power system.
Mission & Vision
Lion Heart: Healing with Heart
Our mission is to provide high-quality care for a small price in the rural heart of Sierra Leone.
Our focus is two-fold. First, we offer specialized care, including complicated surgeries, that is only provided by a few other hospitals in Sierra Leone. Second, we offer highly subsidized maternal and child care to the local communities.
Lion Heart Medical Centre is widely known for its management of wound and trauma cases. Patients travel from all over the country to LHMC to receive the specialized care they need after a road-traffic accident or chronic leg ulcer. At LHMC their fractures can be managed with external-fixation and the chronic wound can be cleaned and closed with skin grafts (skin transplantation surgery). Only a few clinics in the whole of Sierra Leone provide these types of services.
The location of LHMC is in the geographical centre of Sierra Leone, in Yele Town, Gbonkolenken Chiefdom, Tonkolili District. It is the only hospital in a remote and relatively poor region. As a result, a population of about 150.000 people highly depends on LHMC for healthcare. The hospital is a Sierra Leonean NGO, which means we are a non-profit organization.
LHMC was founded to help reduce maternal and infant mortality in Sierra Leone. We offer women from the surrounding communities free antenatal care, and the option to deliver their baby in the hospital for a small price. We work together with the Sierra Leonean government to improve healthcare for children under the age of five in our region. In 2025, the National Child Health Program has awarded LHMC for our help in reducing child morbidity and mortality in Sierra Leone.
We strive to reduce other major health problems occurring in the rural communities as well. For example, we have a dental health department that offers quality, but affordable dental procedures. For more information, see Regional Impact.
Our team
Thanks to the 100 hard working employees of the hospital, also known as the Lion Heart Family, LHMC can provide high quality care, every day and night. Our clinical team comprises of four doctors (two Sierra Leonean, two International), two surgical officers, five community health officers and two paediatric officers.
Education is one of the pillars of LHMC, meaning we provide regular theoretical and practical teaching and training for all our staff. We work together with Sierra Leonean and International institutes (see collaborations). LHMC also offers scholarship opportunities for staff members, both medical and non-medical, to pursue further education.
Management Team
The management team consists of 7 members and is responsible for the day to day running of Lion Heart Medical Centre. The management team is headed by the medical superintendent and the hospital manager. The medical superintendent is responsible for the medical affairs and the hospital manager is responsible for the non-medical aspect of the hospital. Other management team members include the matron, the lab manager, the facility manager, the human resource manager and the finance manager.
Board Members
The current advisory board which was established in May 2024 is set to be the supervisory or regulatory board effective January 2026. This advisory board is made up of 5 members. The current advisory board is headed by Professor Mohamed Syed Fofanah. The District Medical Officer of Tonkolili is a member of this advisory board. All 5 board members are Sierra Leoneans.
Collaborations
The Lion Heart Medical Centre is collaborating with many institutions, including the following:
Educational programmes
Lion Heart Medical Centre aims to support the development of the healthcare sector in Sierra Leone as a whole. We cooperate with different educational programmes and universities in Sierra Leone and abroad, including: Earnest Bai Koroma University of Science and Technology in Makeni; the surgical training programme by CapaCare, which is based in Masanga, Sierra Leone; the medical specialization in Global Health in the Netherlands; Masanga Nursing School; the paediatric training programme by German Doctors; Njala University school of nursing and environmental health sciences in Bo and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. We provide well-supervised internships in a high-learning environment.
Lion Heart Foundation
The hospital is supported by a small NGO in the Netherlands, the Lion Heart Foundation. This foundation gives guidance, creates funding for projects, raises crowdfunding, and creates medical assistance and educational opportunities for LHMC. For more information about the Lion Heart Foundation, visit their website. (Add link.)
Friends of LHMC
Become a friend of LHMC! Those who are touched by the mission of LHMC can join Friends of Lion Heart Medical Centre, a network under the flag of the Lion Heart Foundation, aimed to support the hospital and connect followers, business partners, donors, former volunteers, and others. Click here to learn more. (Add link.)
Vitamin Angels
Insulin4life
RITCORP Insurance company
De Baanderij
Delft Imaging
Independent Energy
Jhpiego
Female Cancer Foundation
Ministry of Health and Sanitation
Friends of LHMC
Lion Heart Foundation
Educational programmes
Regional Impact
To improve health in the rural heart of Sierra Leone, Lion Heart Medical Centre works together with local communities, health workers and schools. We cooperate closely with 22 Peripheral Health Units (PHU’s) in the region, providing training days for the PHU-staff and regularly visiting their locations.
One of our aims is to raise awareness of common health problems amongst local communities. Therefore, we host a weekly radio programme at the community radio in Yele, Radio Gbonkolenken, providing health advice and information in three languages (Krio, Temne, and Mende). Every Friday, an outreach team travels to one of the PHU’s in our region to give a health talk to the community. Important topics include: malnutrition in children, safe pregnancy, family planning, dental health, diabetes and HIV/AIDS. Every Wednesday, pregnant women from two villages are invited for subsidized antenatal care, including ultrasound, lab tests, health talks, medication and consultation. Finally, every year, we visit the high schools in the region, to educate the students. The HIV/AIDS department also organizes a yearly school competition.
Recently, we have also started specific programmes on cervical cancer, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and the Female Cancer Foundation. Worldwide, every 2 minutes a woman dies from this disease. But it can be prevented and cured when found early. We offer screening and treatment on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we have started extra outreach on Tuesdays to bring the cervical cancer screening to the local communities.
