We have been working since our inception with Weill Bugando, the pinnacle health worker training and patient care facility in the Lake Zone of Tanzania comprising the Bugando University College of Health Sciences (BUCHS) and Bugando Medical Centre (BMC). Our work has four large components:

Direct Support to BUCHS

With our support, Bugando University College of Health Sciences has become the second largest medical training institution in Tanzania, training over 700 students across eight medical disciplines, including 210 studying to be doctors. Following an initial investment in infrastructure to construct and renovate student accommodations, we now provide over 80% of the college operating funds. 

Strengthening Management Capacity

Our on-the-ground staff work with Bugando leaders to optimize administrative and management systems, as well as facilitate strategic planning for the university and the hospital. As part of this process, we are working jointly with Tanzanian partners to:

• Reduce costs and ensure consistent supply of equipment and consumables, by establishing an institution-wide Procurement Team which operates through an RFP process
  
• Increase the number of students that can be trained by optimizing both classroom space and faculty time at the university, based on surveys of resource use

Visiting Doctors Program

We facilitate, manage and fund multiple programs placing permanent faculty, as well as residents and faculty on rotation from U.S. medical schools, at Weill Bugando to alleviate the short-term staffing shortage and expose Tanzanian students to world-class medical faculty. To date, this includes:  

• Two permanent Weill Cornell faculty – with specialties in internal medicine, pediatrics and OB/Gyn
• Approximately 50 visiting doctors on a rotational basis
• An emergency medicine specialist scheduled to begin work at Bugando in April 2008
• Professional development support for professors and clinicians through supplemental coursework, bi-directional exchanges and cross-continental mentorship

Hospital Renovation

We support the ongoing efforts of the Bugando Medical Centre leadership to improve the quality of teaching and patient care at this 900-bed hospital. Working with experts from world class medical institutions including New York Presbyterian, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, and Johns Hopkins Medicine International, the Touch Foundation and BMC leadership have jointly developed a prioritized plan for improving clinical infrastructure to enable improved diagnostics, patient flow, infection control, and patient care. These range from the fundamental to the innovative:

• Buying and installing new generators and water pumps to ensure a consistent supply of electricity and running water at the hospital
  
• Partnering with the Abbott Fund to renovate the main laboratory to promote efficient workflow and rigorous quality control
• Renovating a seminar room in the internal medicine department to improve teaching space in the hospital