Our Experience:
Building Hospital Infrastructure, Tanzania

Transformed the national hospital to become a center of excellence and model of tertiary care.

2005-2008

Situation

The Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) in Tanzania, intended to serve as the national tertiary referral facility in Tanzania, suffered from decades of neglect. The hospital was chronically underfunded resulting in systems, technical capacity, and infrastructure that had deteriorated to the point where it was unable to provide critical tertiary care to patients.

Under the Tanzania Care project, an Abbott Fund program, Akesis led the rehabilitation of MNH.

Solution 

With continued support from the Abbott Fund, Akesis worked with MNH senior management and other partners to ensure that the hospital was transformed into a center of excellence and a model for rehabilitation efforts in similar institutions elsewhere in the world. The key to the success of the program was the combination of the national political will in Tanzania and the donor’s determination to invest in strengthening the critical systems necessary to yield immediate improvements in health as well as sustained, long-term improvements in care.

Results

Akesis, with our partners Axios International, led the construction of a new three-story outpatient treatment department and the installation of state-of-the-art laboratory equipment.

The 3,700 square meter outpatient treatment department was designed to accommodate 1,000 patients a day and includes 34 patient examination rooms, a pharmacy, and training facilities for medical students and health care professionals.

Laboratory capacity at MNH for processing chemistry diagnostic tests was increased a hundred-fold, from 75 to 8,000 tests per day. Hematology sample processing increased from 100 to up to a capacity of 400 per day. General management, IT, human resources, and other support systems were also strengthened to ensure sustainable operations.