Boston Medical Center, Lesotho-Boston Health Alliance
Containers 2 Clinics
Boston Medical Center, Lesotho-Boston Health Alliance, Boston, MA
Project Overview
Boston Medical Center, Lesotho-Boston Health Alliance (LeBoHA) was awarded a two year, $100,000 grant in support of the project, Strengthening Community Health Services in a Nurse-Driven Health System. This project aims to sustainably improve the quality of primary care, enhance the delivery of health center services, and build relationships between nurses and members of local government to foster understanding and commitment to best practices in primary care. In 2009, LeBoHA received funding from the Izumi Foundation to establish a competency-based continuing education program for nurses in the Leribe district of Lesotho. The pilot project created a competency based curriculum and implemented a cascade training model that had nurse educators train nurses in four primary health centers. The primary nurses then trained participants in four secondary health centers. LeBoHA has learned a great deal throughout the pilot project and is equipped to effectively expand the program to other health centers in the district. The proposed project will expand the current pilot project to eight additional health centers (16 in total) with the following amendments and added elements 1) train at least one nurse at each of the selected health center sites 2) matriculate the competency curriculum as continuing education credits required for nursing re-licensure and 3) involve local government leaders and the district public health nurse in the sustainability of the project.
Overall Goal
The goal of this program is to sustainably improve the quality of primary care in the Leribe District of Lesotho, improve the competency and skills of nursing professionals, enhance the delivery of health center services, and build relationships between nurses and members of local government to foster understanding and commitment to best practices in primary care.
Containers 2 Clinics, Dover, MA
Project Overview
Containers 2 Clinics (C2C) was awarded a one year, $50,000 grant in support of the project, A Maternal and Child Health Clinic in Namibia. This project, in partnership with The Synergos Institute and the Namibia Ministry of Health and Social Services (NMoHSS), will deploy a maternal and child health care clinic to the Erongo region of western Namibia. The Erongo region is currently experiencing population growth, and current medical facilities cannot meet the increased needs of women and children. The C2C clinic is made from repurposed shipping containers and will provide comprehensive clinical, pharmacy, and health education/outreach services. C2C clinics are designed for low-resource settings and are durable against severe weather; they are equipped with solar-powered ventilation, versatile power, and water hook-ups. C2C will provide annual operating assistance for three years to support health education programming, staff training, facilities maintenance, and clinic management. This project will create access to high-quality primary health care and serve as a pilot program for the NMoHSS as a replicable and scalable solution to building national capacity in maternal and child health.
Overall Goal
The goal for the Erongo clinic is to support the efforts of the NMoHSS to reduce maternal and infant mortality. The specific objectives to achieve this goal are to: deploy a maternal and child health care clinic to provide high-quality services to under-served women and children; increase coverage of comprehensive maternal health care services (pre- and post-natal) and infant care in the Democratic Resettlement Community; increase coverage for women and girls of child-bearing age and children under 5 years old; increase the number of safe births in the Erongo Region; and improve and strengthen the functioning and capacity of the Erongo region health system.