Zahrawi Medical Center: Service in Medicine

In developing countries such as Yemen, quality, affordable health care can be hard to find.

In developing countries such as Yemen, quality, affordable health care can be hard to find. While public hospitals do their best to meet demand at reasonable rates with quality care, the system is strained and comes up short in many ways; yet private hospitals with better care are out of the average Yemeni’s price range. There is clearly a need for independent projects that can find innovative solutions to Yemen’s healthcare dilemma. The Zahrawi Medical Center is one such project. With independent funding and non-profit management, the hospital has managed to provide better care at lower costs.

The Center is funded by the Sana’a Social Development Society (SSDS), an NGO founded in 1992. SSDS is involved in a variety of activities, including infrastructure development and training programs focused on teaching technical skills and teaching women. The society is involved in a number of development activities, including training programs. They have funding from a variety of sources, including the embassies of Japan and Saudi Arabia, and also the Yemeni government, through the Social Development Fund. There are also private donors, including Yemeni businessmen.

In 2001, SSDS took over the management of the hospital, which had been government-run since its inception in 1986. A select number of hospital staff, including the general manager and financial manager, are employed directly by SSDS, which is responsible for upper management and budget. These employees, many of whom are volunteers, provide an independent perspective on the hospital’s operations. This innovation in management, in which there is a class of managers who act essentially as outside consultants, has contributed to greater efficiency in the hospital’s management and finance.

Walking around the hospital, one is immediately struck by the organization and cleanliness of it. The offices, halls, and medical rooms are immaculate. It is not afflicted by crowds of patients gathering around doctors’ doors, the kind of scene which mars other hospitals.

It is one of the few hospitals in Sana’a with an active family planning section, which receives 50-60 cases daily. “This clinic is very important, because Yemen has one of the highest population growth rates in the world,” explained financial manager Helal al-Bahry, who led a tour of the hospital. The clinic provides various services, including the birth control pill. There is also a clinic for prenatal care, which deals with over 100 cases per day. Overall, the women’s section of the hospital gets nearly 300 visits per day.

The hospital’s funding allows it to buy state-of-the-art equipment. A 46,000 dollar mammography device was purchased with funds from the Japanese government. A new hormone machine, which “gives a more precise understanding of patients’ illnesses or diseases” was purchased a few months ago at a cost of 35,000 dollars. The excellence of the care at the center was recognized on February 3 by visiting British Member of Parliament Ivan Lewn, who wrote of the experience, “It was a real privilege to see the health centre and range of services being provided. It is a great credit to those who developed the centre and I support their vision for future expansion.”

The expansion he is referring to primarily concerns the nearly-completed surgical ward, due to open in June, complete with a recovery unit. To ensure this project is completed on time is one of Helal’s main priorities. He also wants to build an emergency section for the pediatric and obstetric units.

Another important feature of the Center’s work is training. Next door to the center itself is the Zahwari Medical Training Institute, which opened two years ago. There are currently over 200 students enrolled in the three-year, post-secondary training program, which leads to a certificate in laboratory science, pharmacy, or medicine.

The managers of the Center hope that these students can go on to replicate the successful medical experiment that is the Zahrawi medical center.