World Class Healthcare - Worldwide leadership

Delegates from Ethiopia visit Elmhurst's Robotic Pharmacy

New York City public hospitals are helping solve challenging global healthcare problems as medical experts and legislators worldwide visit HHC facilities to learn about winning practices in HIV/AIDS programs, information technology and emergency preparedness, among others. Leaders from South Africa, the Netherlands, Ethiopia and Russia are among the recent visitors seeking insight from HHC administrative and clinical leaders.

This April, members of the Gauteng Legislature from South Africa visited HHC to learn about effective hospital management models that could be used to develop their public hospital system and discussed the challenges they faced.

(L-R): Regina Banks-Clark, Associate Director of Nursing for Recruitment; Jackie Stith, Supervisor of Nurses, EHC Adult HIV/AIDS Clinic; Marme Teklemarian, MSW, AIHA In-Country Representative for Ethiopia; Amanda Gibbons, PhD, Director, AIHA Twinning Center; Judi Brenner, Associate Director of Social Work.

“Sixty percent of the people in our country are below the poverty level,” said Kenneth Batyi, African National Congress Member of Parliament, Gauteng Legislature. “The challenge is resources. We need to find a balance to serve the rich and the poor.”

At Harlem Hospital Center, the delegates learned strategic practices that could be used to treat South Africans living with HIV/AIDS. They appreciated the guidance they received from Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, Chief of Infectious Diseases at Harlem, who discussed the International Family AIDS program, which centers on involving families in care instead of solely patients. Multidisciplinary teams of doctors, nutritionists and social workers empower patients to take charge of their treatment.

“The goal is to get them fully engaged in their medical care,” said El-Sadr.

HHC technology is also an international model for countries trying to improve patient care and safety. Physicians from OLVG Hospital in the Netherlands visited Jacobi Medical Center in April to see an electronic diabetes registry that manages care for 50,000 diabetic patients corporate-wide, pharmacy robots and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) technology that has reduced medication errors.

Dr. Robert Sidlow, Associate Medical Director at Jacobi, demonstrated the CPOE’s capabilities for the Dutch visitors, who were impressed by its built-in alerts for a patient’s medication allergies, possible interactions with other medicines a patient is taking and if prescriptions exceed the recommended dosage.

Other HHC facilities, like Elmhurst Hospital Center, are assisting medical professionals in Ethiopia and Russia to establish HIV treatment programs. Last fall, communications and healthcare professionals from Germany visited Bellevue Hospital Center to learn from the hospital's disaster management experience to prepare communication strategies in the event of a public health emergency.

June 2007