The John F. Kennedy Medical Center under the watch of Dr. Linda Birch, is hastening transformation and restoring the hospital to its pre-war status
This dedicated to serving as Liberia’s premiere medical facility is focused on building a strong, viable, and healthy nation.
In April of this year, President Joseph Boakai appointed a new management team at JFK, with Dr. Birch as the Chief Executive Officer and General Administrator.
Over relatively nine months, steady progress in upgrading critical areas of the facility, including strengthening key partnerships to enhance service delivery, Infrastructural development, and sanitized medical environment, among many others has been the Birch management team’s target.
JFK is now partnering with the BK Pharmacy to address the long-standing issue of drug shortages, ensuring patients have reliable access to essential drugs; while at the same time upholding the JFK Medical Center’s efficiency, effectiveness, accessibility to affordable health delivery for all Liberians and others seeking healthcare services at this premium referral hospital.
Besides strengthening key partnerships for pharmaceutical supplies, the hospital also has a unique financial management at the peak of its accomplishment securing partnerships with the International Bank Liberia Limited and ECOBANK.
The Birch management team has also ensured the completion of a comprehensive rehabilitation of the Maternity Emergency Breakroom, the Male Doctors’ Call room, the construction of the external pharmacy at the Pediatrics Wards which is at 90% completion, and significant improvements in the maternity wards, including the Normal Vaginal Delivery (NVD) Ward, the Martha Johnson Semi-Private Rooms, and the Post C-Section Wards.
The administration has placed sanitation of the hospital as one of its topnotch priorities, ensuring an all-time clean and welcoming health facility as it has curtailed what was a culture of patients receiving treatment in the open, though still engulfed with the shortage of medical beds to meet the increased intake of patients daily. Another monumental achievement by Dr. Birch is the launching of a state-of-the-art Oxygen Plant – This facility will guarantee a constant supply of medical-grade oxygen, essential for our Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Surgical Theaters;
Birch and her team have also embarked on several transformational initiatives elevating the quality of care at the JFK Medical Center.
She is concentrating and rallying the efforts of her team to fully equip the wards and operating theaters, ensuring the availability of electricity, and the Hospital Management Information System (HMIS).
These set goals would boost the preparedness, efficiency and effectiveness in healthcare services at the medical.
For instance, upgrading the ward and operating theater will enable the hospital to deliver world-class health services to both local and international patients, strengthening the hospital’s reputation as a premiere healthcare institution, a review of measures to tackle electricity availability would ensure that electricity is stable, prevent power disruptions to patient care, including backup systems and exploring alternative energy solutions amid the Dry Season.
The HMIS, on the other hand, is a technological transformation system that will streamline the management of patient records, billing, and scheduling, increasing operational efficiency and improving patient care.
There is an ongoing pilot phase of the HMIS at the Liberian-Japanese Friendship Maternity Hospital.
The administration recounts that the progress made thus far signifies a solidified partnership and unwavering support from the Government of Liberia and, its national and International partners, while also being optimistic of more financial, material, and technical support to achieving its medium to long-term goals.
Dr. Birch has indeed carved out and set herself to a huge task which her critics believe may be very difficult if not impossible given the current difficult outlook of the nation’s finances.
But she remains undaunted and firmly fixed in the will to carry on despite difficult challenges, she will surely find a way to resuscitate JFK and restore it beyond its former glory.
