KAKATA, Margibi – An American non-profit health organization affiliated with John Hopkins University, Jhpiego, has ended a year-long project in Margibi to provide mentoring and supervision to ensure quality of health services.

The US$2.5 million project, funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency, aimed to revamp the healthcare delivery services at the Jackson F. Doe and the Redemption Hospitals at the cost of US$1.5 million, while the remaining US$1 million was used for projects in four counties including Margibi, Bong, Grand Gedeh and Maryland.

Speaking at the project’s closing ceremony, the KOICA project manager, Leroy Johnson, said the South Korean government has allotted US$100 million as development assistance to Liberia within the next five years; the funding for the project was KOICA’s first intervention in Liberia.

He said Liberia’s poor healthcare system facilitated the Ebola epidemic. To prevent future outbreaks from infectious diseases, the capacity of health system needs to be strengthened, especially with regards to building the capacity of service providers.

KOICA project manager, Leroy Johnson. Photo: Emmanuel Degleh

“Starting with this project, the Korean government is to engage Liberia through the health sector to improve the health system holistically,” Johnson said.

Jhpiego’s senior program officer, Katherine Sawyer, said the project provided training, mentoring and coaching to improve services at 42 private and public facilities in the four health districts across Margibi.

Prior to the project, she said some of the facilities were not up-to-date in observing the basic standards in safe and quality healthcare.

Jhpiego certificated ten out the 42 health facilities as “best performing” during the year-long project. The Wohn and Velley-ta clinics in Gibi and Kakata Districts, respectively, were considered the two top-performing facilities during the project.

For his part, Margibi community health services director, Joseph Kohene, making remarks on behalf of the County Health Team, thanked Jhpiego for making a meaningful impact in the county’s health system.

He said it was regrettable that the project closing as it would rather be better for it to continue in order to improve the health sector.

Featured photo by Emmanuel Degleh