There is a crucial need for World Class hospitals overseas, particularly in many developing countries, such as Africa. Turnkey hospitals, or ‘boxed’ hospitals, may be one of the solutions. A turnkey hospital is one that includes everything from behind the scenes back office, to clinical and departmental operations, as well as systems for patient self-care, operated on an integrated internal network which links patients and doctors in one single record. This system provides an open, streamlined, digital and computer ready, paperless hospital facility. It’s a complete solution, perfect for newly-built hospitals, or for already existing hospitals which need to upgrade and get on board in this growing and competitive healthcare market.
It takes approximately 18 to 24 months to train staff for the methods and delivery of a particular healthcare facility and managing company. Staff must be trained to meet high standards typical of world class hospitals. These hospitals hire high quality physicians, possibly expatriates, who work as physicians in the US, but can be sympathetic to the culture and lifestyle of the local area. These hospitals, for example Lagos State Teaching Hospital, in Lagos, Nigeria, have often looked to the private sector for assistance in constructing, operating and managing a maternity centre. In this case, a local partner, Deux Projects International, picked GE as its equipment supplier. This project was at first a pilot; however, because of its success, it was expanded to nine sites across the Lagos area.
The goal of a turnkey hospital is to strive for world class healthcare in each new facility with no lengthy admissions forms to fill out, great service often compared to that of a fancy hotel and primarily, the improvement of patient treatment. OR International (www.orinti.com) in partnership with the American Heart Association has built a 100 million dollar facility in Botswana, Africa. This facility is completely paperless; all patient records are stored online. Streamlining costs without sacrificing patient care is the main focus. The healthcare field is one in which you can have excellent economic and clinical results as demonstrated with hospitals in Botswana and Lagos, Nigeria.
Olatunji Olowolafe (also known as Dr. Tunji Olowolafe), the CEO of Deux Projects International, has been one of the leaders in the building and maintenance of hospitals and research facilities for several years. His great interest in medicine came together in the formation of Deux Projects International. Initially concentrating on restructuring and fitting world class hospitals across various parts of Nigeria, Deux Projects International have now widened their focus to include general civil engineering, construction, consultancy and maintenance. Deux Projects has clients throughout Nigeria, among which is the federal government, some state governments, teaching hospitals, and many other large corporations. For more information, please follow this link: deuxproject.com
The ultimate goal of these turnkey hospitals is to provide world class medical care combined with world class facilities. This solution completely transforms the care of patients with long-term and chronic conditions as well as cutting costs. Streamlining the ‘hospital in a box’ idea and adding the acquisition and training of world class clinicians and other professionals will give third world countries a much needed boost into the 21st century.
Written by: Abiola Alabi is a Nigerian blogger, journalist and writer. He is particularly interested in infrastructure development and urban renewal in and around the burgeoning metropolis of Lagos.