Supporting African Health Workers to Deliver Standards of Care at Scale
Bulamu’s Health Center Excellence (HCE) program strengthens partner health facilities and improves health outcomes at scale.
In many countries, including Uganda, health workers face immense day-to-day challenges treating patients. Too often, health workers are sent to rural health facilities with no access to ongoing training or support for the management systems they find there. Often, the challenges facing doctors, nurses and midwives will largely determine the quality of the care they can provide. But this problem also contains an opportunity: Many health facilities can improve significantly if their teams are supported with stronger, standardized management and data systems.
Since 2018, Bulamu has worked with leaders in the Ugandan public health sector to develop management solutions that address systemic challenges preventing people from accessing quality care. In 2023, we presented to the Ministry of Health on the impact our programs and services have made. Ministry of Health leaders were so impressed that they signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Bulamu, asking us to scale up our role in the delivery of care by working with more public health facilities, with the MOH committing to help identify and secure funding partners to support this work. We are honored to have the Ministry of Health’s confidence and partnership for this effort.
Rate of Recording Adult Blood Pressure
- 7%: Before HCE
- 48%: After HCE
(12,711 patient records surveyed from 86 partner facilities)
Thanks to key partners like Rotary International and Rotary clubs in Uganda and the U.S., we’re improving delivery of essential healthcare to millions of patients in five key ways:
350+
Partner Public Health Facilities in Uganda
4M
Patient Visits Annually
38
Maternity Facilities Training in Essential Newborn Care*
*As of 2023
Our Scalable Health Systems Programs Address Multiple Needs
Helping Babies Breathe (WHO Essential Newborn Care) training for maternity workers
In 2023, Bulamu has become the most active training organization for Helping Babies Breathe throughout Uganda, and perhaps more widely in East Africa. HBB+ or Essential Newborn Care is proven to reduce newborn mortality by 47%, according to the American Association of Pediatrics. With 38 maternity facility teams trained year-to-date, this proven training has already upgraded maternity and newborn care for almost 100 midwives in Uganda, who serve in facilities that deliver about 25,000 babies per year.
Vital Signs and Patient Records
Thanks to support and leadership from Rotary Clubs in Uganda and the U.S., in 2022 Bulamu ensured all of our 353 partner health facilities have the equipment necessary to provide this basic element of Standard of Care before each patient’s condition is diagnosed. HCE also provides clinicians with Bulamu’s outpatient, inpatient, and discharge forms and our maternity patient records for pregnant women, serving more than 2 million patients in 2022 alone. These records communicates essential health information to patients in a form they can understand, take home, and use in the future.
Management Reports
With our new web-based HCE-IT platform, health center staff now upload weekly data to the cloud using their smartphones or tablets. The result: District officials get monthly dashboard reports of Key Performance Indicators that allow them to manage their health centers with information they have never had before, including real-time data on staff productivity and absenteeism.
District League Table Reports
This annual ranking of Uganda’s 140 local government districts on 16 public health metrics is published 5-7 months after year-end. We have introduced a monthly update of this report during the year. The result: District health teams know their progress during the year and can take corrective actions on a real-time basis, improving patient service levels and moving up in national healthcare rankings.
Environmental Health
Our 12 partner districts employ 300+ field environmental inspectors who perform a vital public health function: inspecting water source purity, food safety, waste management sanitation, commercial and residential hygiene, etc. They also provide sanitation education to schools and community groups. Using our new HCE digital collection tools, inspectors will now submit their field reports on their own smart devices that give district officials information they have never had before.