A team of doctors and nurses from Oklohoma City based Mercy Hospital have expressed interest in Rwanda’s healthcare system and announced plans to partner with local hospitals for effective healthcare delivery to the population.

Speaking to journalists yesterday  shortly after meeting President Paul Kagame, at Village Urugwiro, Jim R. Gebhart, the president of Mercy Hospital said that they visited Rwanda to assess hospitals and help in improving the healthcare system.

"The objective of the visit to Kigali is to improve healthcare for all Rwandans. Our team made of nurses, doctors and administrators have visited four hospitals in Kigali. The journey for accreditation by each of these facilities is aided by the efforts of our team members,” he said.

The group of 27 people is led by Dr. Mike O’neal, the chairman of the Board of Trustees of Mercy Hospital. 

The hospitals assessed by the American medics include Rwanda Military Hospital, Police Hospital as well, Kibagabaga and Muhima hospitals.

According to Mercy Hospital, the tour was to lay a ground for the US based facility to support the improvement of healthcare delivery in Rwanda.

Gebhart who is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) noted that there are a number of areas in Rwanda’s healthcare system that are of best practices to Mercy Hospital.

"We are looking forward to working with Rwanda’s Ministry of Health so that in future we can coordinate our efforts better to have equity in all the hospitals in Rwanda. When we go back to the US we will prepare a report that indicates what the assessment shows, most especially the strength of the Rwandan hospitals and opportunities for improvement,” he explained.

"We came with physicians and nurses and the emphasis is on chronicle improvement and management of the hospitals.”

The assessment of the medical facilities dwelt on capacity building, infrastructure development, medical equipment, research, e-health, emergency based on brain injury management and hospital networking and leadership.

The delegation, which will be in the country for about two weeks is expected to forge a partnership with Rwandan hospitals in the areas of research among others.

Rwanda’s Health sector has been commended internationally for providing outstanding healthcare to people.

The government has established international collaborations and partnerships, like the one with the Clinton Foundation, among others to bring equity medical facilities and health care to Rwanda.

According Dr Agnes Binagwaho, the Minister of Health, the team from Mercy Hospital is providing an external assessment to help improve the health sector in Rwanda.

"This is a great team of doctors and nurses and other members of administration that is looking forward to partnering with our education and health sectors. The majority of them are coming to assess the four Kigali-based hospitals to see how they can help us to improve our healthcare system to provide better clinical services to our people,” she added.

Mercy Hospital is the sixth largest Catholic health care system in the US and serves more than three million people annually.  It is an integrated organisation that includes 32 hospitals, 300 outpatient locations, 39,000 co-workers and 1,700 integrated physicians in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.