Improving Muhimbili National Hospital
In 2001, the Abbott Fund and the Health Ministry identified Muhimbili National Hospital, located in Dar es Salaam and the country's leading teaching and reference hospital, as a starting point for a nationwide transformation. Muhimbili’s deteriorating facilities and services were often ill-equipped to meet the needs of a new patient population – people with HIV who would receive long-term ARV treatment.
Improving Muhimbili National Hospital
It was determined that any improvements made at Muhimbili would trickle down throughout the entire health system. A new outpatient department was built, containing a training facility for students and hospital staff. Hospital management received training to strengthen department organization and financial management, and a modern IT system was installed to track inventory, prescriptions and patient health history. These improvements helped to increase hospital-generated revenues by more than 50 percent in the first two years of the partnership.
Improving Muhimbili National Hospital
From the initial work at Muhimbili grew an ambitious plan to modernize the country’s health care system and expand access to HIV testing and treatment. This work included building new testing and counseling rooms to ensure patient privacy, renovating clinics and laboratories, donating laboratory equipment and creating local hospital HIV management teams. More than 19,000 health care worker trainings were conducted. The Abbott Fund also donated 1 million rapid HIV tests to support the presidential effort to increase testing on a national scale.
Improving Muhimbili National Hospital
The Muhimbili outpatient department was the first to integrate HIV treatment into its other outpatient services, helping to mitigate the stigma associated with HIV status. The partnership has extended to hospitals, clinics and rural health facilities across the country. This includes both training and physical renovations at more than half of the country’s regional hospitals. Facilities and systems were upgraded at more than 90 sites throughout the country to improve voluntary counseling and testing services and prepare for the availability of treatment programs.
Improving Muhimbili National Hospital
Most public health laboratories, including Muhimbili’s Central Pathology Laboratory, were inefficiently designed, understaffed and generally in poor condition, and physical infrastructure and equipment were in a state of disrepair – leaving a critical gap in patient services.
Improving Muhimbili National Hospital
The Muhimbili hospital laboratory was modernized and computerized to provide accurate diagnostic testing that is crucial not only for lifelong monitoring of HIV patients, but for those with other chronic illnesses like diabetes. Muhimbili’s Central Pathology Laboratory has been modernized, allowing patients to get test results on the same day, rather than coming back days or weeks later to receive a diagnosis.
Improving Muhimbili National Hospital
Most recently, the Abbott Fund/Ministry of Health partnership identified emergency medicine as a new area of focus. Emergency medicine is not a recognized trained medical specialty in Tanzania, and there is no formal emergency medical service system.
As a result, patients admitted to public hospitals for acute conditions generally receive limited care until a specialist is available to provide treatment. The lack of emergency care has now been recognized as a contributing factor to the country’s mortality and morbidity rates.
Improving Muhimbili National Hospital
In 2009, the first public Emergency Medical Department (EMD) in Tanzania to provide services meeting international standards was dedicated on the grounds of Muhimbili National Hospital. The building renovations, staff training and new equipment are supported by a grant from the Abbott Fund.
While the training and services provided at the new EMD will have an immediate impact in its region, the broader goal is to utilize the department as a training ground and create the first residency program in emergency medicine in the country.
Improving Muhimbili National Hospital