Philips, a global leader in health technology, and the governments of Ethiopia and the Netherlands has signed a seven-year agreement to build Ethiopia’s first specialized Cardiac Care Center to address the critical shortage of cardiology services in Ethiopia.
Under the terms of the agreement, valued at approximately Euro 40 million, Philips will be responsible for the full turnkey design, construction, equipping and commissioning of the hospital location, as well as staff education and equipment maintenance for five years after completion. The new center will be developed within the compound of the existing Tikur Anbessa SpecializedHospital (TASH) in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia.
The new specialist cardiac care center will comprise a 7-story building covering 7,200 square meters with three operating rooms, two cath labs, 94 beds, and full diagnostic and examination suites. Scheduled for completion in mid-2020, it is estimated that the new center will have the physical capacity to perform 500 surgeries, 1,600 cath lab diagnoses, and 500 cath lab interventions once operational.
“This is a unique project for Philips globally as we are creating an entire turnkey hospital solution,” said Jasper Westerink (https://goo.gl/
The Ethiopian population of over 100 million citizens currently has no access to a continually functioning cardiac center, a bleak reality for a country with one of the highest prevalence of rheumatic heart disease, which is largely preventable and often caused by non-treated throat infections. In Ethiopia, it is the leading cause of acquired heart disease among children and young adults. At Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital in Addis Ababa there is a waiting list of over 8,000 patients for cardiac care that currently cannot be addressed.
The agreement not only covers construction of the new cardiac care center, but also renovation of an existing section of the TASH hospital. Renovation of an existing floor in the hospital will begin by June, 2018, and is expected to be completed before the end of the year. It will include installation of a dedicated cardiology operating theatre, a new Philips bi-plane interventional catheterization lab, and a cardiology ICU. This will increase capacity and enable surgical interventions to be performed before the new cardiac care center is ready.
With the aim to improve access to quality healthcare in Africa the Netherlands government is contributing to this project with funding via the Netherlands Enterprise Agency
A specialist cardiology training program with the University of Cape Town has been integrated into the project. The program will impart specialist skills to the staff at the TASH hospital and garner local experience for the Ethiopian surgical team. In addition, Philips will be responsible for comprehensive maintenance of all equipment in the hospital five (5) years post the completion of the new cardiac center.
Integrated solutions provider
The new specialist cardiology center is another example of Philips’ strategy of delivering co-designed integrated solutions aimed at solving complex healthcare challenges and creating a more sustainable approach to healthcare. These innovative healthcare delivery models help healthcare providers to continuously improve access to care, clinical quality and operational performance, while at the same time enhancing patient and staff experience.