The hospital, in the former Clifton Tavern, opened in February and Ms Bangura joined the staff in May.
Ms Bangura said she was pleased to be part of the initial operational stage.
"I really enjoy contributing to building systems and teams."
It was her first experience of working at this level.
"It’s exciting, it’s interesting, it’s challenging.
"It’s a bit of a step forward, a step back, a step sideways."
Her background was in community development which the hospital was an example of.
"I was really drawn to the hospital in large part because it has an incredible history of motivated people coming together, establishing a team to address something that is felt as a local need."
When she first arrived in New Zealand in 2015 she found work quickly as the director of Number 10 Southland Youth One Stop Shop.
After a few years she took a break from the role but a year and a-half ago became a board of trustees member.
Her role at the hospital was similar to putting a puzzle together as the components needed for the clinics were assembled.
This involved making sure the volunteer medical and dental staff were available at the same time and there were patient referrals for them to treat.
"When all the pieces are in place, then we can do a day or two of colonoscopies."
The highlight of her time so far was the days when this happened.
"It’s really wonderful when the hospital is full of people and what we hear from patients is that they’re so thankful for the care that they received and the volunteer team shows such professionalism and kindness to patients, to each other."
There was no set schedule for colonoscopies or dental clinics as the hospital found its feet.
Twenty-four people had received partial or full colonoscopies to date.
"I can tell you that in October, we are looking at doing about 16 colonoscopies."
In November, a similar number was planned.
"Whether that becomes exactly a monthly pattern for a while, I’m not 100% sure, but we certainly have seen the benefit of starting small and then our numbers are growing as we go along."
She was pleased with the progress so far.
"I think the key is that we need to celebrate that our momentum is growing as more volunteers join the team and as referrers become more familiar with us as a provider so that we continue to kind of feed into that growth over time."
One of the challenges was finding volunteers and she encouraged anyone who would like to help to make contact.
sandy.eggleston@alliedmedia.co.nz
