The Partnership between Nagasaki University Hospital (NUH), Japan, and Tellewayon Memorial Hospital (TMH) in Lofa County, Liberia, was formed in August 2016. At the time, TMH was recovering from the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014 and relying on international support to reactivate its essential health services and moving forward with recovery efforts in alignment with national recovery plans.
During the recovery at TMH, it was quickly realized that the impacts of the Ebola response had depleted many resources and that extensive work was needed in order to improve quality. NUH saw that the needs at TMH were extensive and agreed to form a partnership with TMH. The Ministry of Health and the County authorities in Liberia supported this partnership at the onset of the formal TPI agreement. Careful consideration was given to the architecture of the partnership, recognizing the distinct culture and context of the respective partners. Principles and definition of partnerships were carefully considered in recognition that success of the partnership would depend on the foundations developed in the early stages. This proved pivotal in the roll-out of the partnership.
Moving forward from this initial partnership, a situational assessment and gap analysis were completed at TMH in October 2016. Following the gap analysis, an official “action planning” meeting took place in December 2016 where both partners agreed to improve infection prevention and control, with specific attention being given to hand hygiene and waste management. It was noted that by improving these two areas, the foundation could be created for overall quality improvement throughout the whole hospital.
The partnership undertook two partnership exchange visits in Liberia and Japan respectively. The principles of the partnership were reinforced throughout while the improvement work proceeded. The bi-directionality of the partnership learning was emphasized. For example, the TMH team leader gave a talk about their experience in the Ebola response, which NUH stated they benefited greatly from because they learned about the realities of diagnosis and treating Ebola affected patients.