Returning to Ilula

 Good day fellow travelers and other readers. This is a small experiment to make sure that I can post a blog - it's not something I do everyday! I am looking forward to reconnecting with my friends at Ilula Lutheran Hospital. I first visited Ilula Medical Center in 2006 as part of a mission trip with my church, Lord of Life Lutheran in Maple Grove, Minnesota. 

As a health care administrator I was curious about the life and responsibilities of Ilula's administrator. What I found convinced me that health administrators could contribute to Ilula's success in serving their population. After many conversations with Global Health Ministries, we launched Global Health Administration Partners (GHAP) in 2007 with Ilula as one of two pilot programs to test whether we could add value. 

Since that time and through the considerable efforts Shoulder to Shoulder and Ilula's board of goveners, Ilula has grown to be a full-fledged hospital. GHAP has continued to travel to Ilula every few years, walking with the hospital leadership to study issues such as inventory management, medical records management and governance. We have also participated in a few of the Minnesota - Ilula Medical Conferences.

I'm looking forward to seeing the progress Ilula continues to make and to meeting again with Dr Saga and Alamu Kikoti in particular, as well as my fellow travelers from Shoulder to Shoulder.