PharmAccess mobilizes public and private resources for the benefit of doctors and patients through clinical standards and quality improvements, loans for healthcare providers, health insurance, mHealth innovations and operational research.
In early November architects from across East Africa gathered in Nairobi to attend the first in a series of hospital development workshops. The workshops, entitled, “Improving Quality Healthcare through Hospital Design and Construction,” are exploring through discussion and shared best practice how architecture plays a fundamental role in the provision of quality healthcare.
The 22 participants, comprising architects and other relevant professional groupings such as quantity surveyors, biomedical engineers, were welcomed by The Nairobi Hospital CEO Gordon Odundo. The first workshop was facilitated in collaborating with AMPC International Health Consultants and the Nairobi Hospital. The series is organized by PharmAccess together with Medical Credit Fund as part of their capacity building initiatives in support of technical assistance services to healthcare facilities. They are being supported by a Dutch government funded program and a CDC Grant facility (CDC Plus), funded by UKAid from the UK Government.
The main objective of the workshop series is to create awareness and explore options for addressing the current challenges in hospital design and construction as well as build local knowledge by involving of key professionals in the hospital construction business such as: architects, project managers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, Life & Fire safety experts, contractors etc.
Violet Mafuwe (above)
Among the participants, Tanzanian architect Violet Mafuwe said “I liked AMPC’s sessions, they were very elaborative and gave us the chance to share our experience. I also enjoyed the hospital tour because I could make a parallel between the insights learned during the sessions and elements of the facilities visited during the tour.” Violet holds a master’s degree in “Architecture for Health Design” from Sapienza University in Rome, Italy.
Robinson Onyango Maguro, a project manager at Kenyatta Hospital as well as a private consultant in various hospital design projects, is also a graduate of the ““Architecture for Health Design” master and a former colleague of Violet Mafuwe: “My hospital design experience is mostly in the public sector and I appreciate learning from other architects with experience in the private sector as well as getting to understand the investors’ perspective. SafeCare as an eye opener in terms of what is needed to ensure quality standards in the hospital environment.”
