Yale and Clinton Foundation Develop Blueprint for Ethiopian Hospitals

New Haven, Conn. — Researchers at Yale’s Department of Epidemiology and Public Health and staff of the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative recently published and released a document for Ethiopia’s hospitals that is designed to improve their management capacity.

The document addresses specific areas of problem solving and leadership, while also focusing on key hospital systems.

The “Blueprint for Hospital Management in Ethiopia” was developed by the Ethiopian Hospital Management Initiative (EHMI), which is a program initiated by the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and led by the joined forces of the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative and Yale School of Medicine.

The Blueprint is an integral piece of EHMI, which began at the request of Tedros Adhanom Ghebeysus, the Ethiopian Minister of Health, as part of efforts by the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative to expand and improve treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS.

“The Blueprint will form the backbone of the EHMI program as it moves into year two,” said Tim Dentry, EHMI project director. “It is the direct outgrowth of the program’s success building leadership skills among Ethiopian professionals, while implementing real quality improvements in the 14 engaged hospitals.”

It is intended that the document be used by Ethiopian healthcare professionals from 14 public hospitals, Regional Health Bureaus, and the Federal Ministry of Health trained by Yale University and the EHMI program in order to improve access to, and delivery of, health care services to Ethiopia’s 76 million people.

The “Blueprint for Hospital Management in Ethiopia” forms the basis for quality improvements for eight different systems in Ethiopia’s hospitals. These systems include: 1) Human Resource Management 2) Governing Boards 3)Patient Flow 4)Medical Records Management 5)Nursing Standards and Practice 6) Infection Prevention Policies 7) Pharmacy Inventory Warehouse and Management and 8) Global Budgeting and Financial Management.

Each system was designed, tested, and implemented in various hospitals by the EHMI program.

“We are pleased with the great success and innovative thinking of the EHMI Fellows and their partnering hospitals,” said Elizabeth Bradley, professor of public health and director of the EHMI project at Yale. “They have applied their newly acquired project management skills in order to initiate systems improvements in their hospitals. It is exciting to watch as each system is leading to both improved staff morale and improved patient care within each hospital. We look forward to the time when these systems will be expected to hospitals throughout the whole of Ethiopia.”

In a country that spends only $6 per person on health care and has extensive acute care needs, Bradley said the hospitals are often the place of last resort for many. Ensuring that they are as productive and efficient as possible is critical.

“Reliable systems are essential for quality care in any hospital, not simply those in Ethiopia who have limited resources,” Bradley said. “Fortunately, we have developed systems that are flexible for adaptation to the specific needs of each hospital in Ethiopia.”

Ghebeysus expressed his support for the Blueprint. “This past year was a very positive one with EHMI Fellows and health care professionals exchanging ideas and developing management skills ideas,” he said. “The ultimate result has been the design of these systems innovations that we look to test further and implement in hospitals throughout Ethiopia.”

Martha Dale, lecturer of public health in the health management division of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale, said, “The Blueprint will lead to continued improvements to Ethiopia’s health care system. Each recommendation is tailored to the needs of the nation’s hospitals and the development of its professional staff.”

The Blueprint was edited by Yale’s Program Manager Josh Pashman with input from over 50 people worldwide, including the EHMI program Fellows, Clinton Foundation staff, numerous consultants, Yale faculty, and students from both Yale College and the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health.

Founded by Charles-Edward Amory Winslow in 1915, the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale, is one of the country’s oldest programs in public health. It has played a pivotal role in defining and addressing public health issues and training leaders in public health research, education, and practice. The Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale provides leadership to protect and improve the health of the public. Through innovative research, policy analysis, and education that draws upon multidisciplinary scholarship from across the graduate and professional programs at Yale, the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale serves local, national, and international communities with its knowledge and expertise.