The International Rescue Committee, one of the world's largest humanitarian agencies, provides relief, rehabilitation and post-conflict reconstruction support to victims of natural disaster, oppression and violent conflict in 42 countries. The IRC is committed to bold leadership, innovation and creative partnerships. Active in public health, education, livelihoods, women's empowerment, youth development, and protection and promotion of rights, IRC assists people from harm to home.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has been of unprecedented in scale and in the response required. No previous outbreak has had as many confirmed cases, or as wide of a geographic spread. The situation has been complicated by the porous nature of the regions' borders, inaccessibility of the terrain and the presence of multiple active sites of transmission. The outbreak in Liberia started in March 2014 and has rapidly spread due to pourous borders, insufficient contact tracing, community fears and misperceptions. The government instituted a 90 day state of emergency, closed borders and deployed its military personnel to assist in the containment. To date, nearly 7,000 cases have been either confirmed, probable or suspected, most of them originating from Lofa and Montserrado Counties but cases have been resported in almost all counties in Liberia.
Currently, the IRC response to the Ebola outbreak has included coordination and collaboration (with co-chairing of the Ebola intervention committee meetings in Zorzor and Salayea districts, providing technical advise to the Lofa County Ebola task force and supporting the Lofa County Health Team (Lofa CHT) in preparing contingency plans for the Ebola intervention activities), surveillance and contact tracing (provision of community health staff to Lofa CHT to lead and be part of the contact tracing teams, provision of gasoline to district health offices for case follow up as well as health information management), case management (provision of medical staff to Lofa CHT to lead case management, training of health staff in Salayea, Zorzor, Voinjama and Kolahun districts, distribution of infection control materials and other medical supplies to 40 health facilities in Lofa County as well as fuel support for transportation of suspected and confirmed cases as well as for the burial team), as well as social mobilization and psychosocial support with community awareness raising and health education in health facilities and communities in Salayea, Zorzor and Voinjama districts.
IRC is negotiating an agreement with the central Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) in Liberia, the Lofa CHT and senior hospital management to take over the facilitation of service delivery and strengthening health systems at four hospitals in Lofa County for a period of six months. These hospitals are: Tellewoyan Memorial Hospital, Foya Borma, Kolahun, and Curran Lutheran-which together serve a population of approximately 304,021 people residing in seven administrative districts. The Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS) for Secondary and Tertiary Care outlines the full range of expected services to be provided at each level; however, given the immediate needs for revitalization, the MOHSW has identified the following priority areas for implementation: Maternal and Newborn Health, Child Health, Reproductive Health, Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases and Emergency Health as well as Quality Assurance. Health systems strengthening (HSS) support will look at Human Resources, Supply Chain, Laboratory and Diagnostic Services, Infection Prevention and Control, and Health Management Information Systems.
Scope of work: The Hospital Project Coordinator (HPC) will be the focal point for hospitals project in Lofa County, Liberia, specifically taking the lead on supporting the revitalization of prioritized health services through four hospitals in the county. The position is based in Voinjama with regular trips to IRC's hospital projects within the county. The HPC will report to IRC Health Coordinator based in Voinjama and get support from the Monrovia based Senior Health Coordinator and Technical Advisors for health programs in Health Unit at health quarters.
Specific responsibilities include:
- Provide technical recommendations to the Lofa CHT and Hospital Management Board level to improve triage and infection prevention and control, and delivery of quality services as well as enhanced hygiene and sanitation practices;
- Work closely with health actors in the county, staff from other IRC sectors such as Women Protection and Empowerment to address any non-health interventions and advise in relation to the health services;
- Work with Health Coordinator, Senior Health Coordinator, Country Director on development of new proposals for Lofa hospital revitalization support;
- Provide technical support to infection prevention and control in the various service delivery areas in Lofa hospitals including newborn, child and maternal health services, family planning and other reproductive health services as well as malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases and emergency care;
- Support Ebola contingency planning and response at hospital level in Lofa;
- Work very closely with the leadership structures within each hospital to ensure smooth running of the hospitals and delivery of services;
- Work with colleagues in IRC, the Lofa CHT, senior hospital management and Central MOHSW to map out approaches to HSS at each of the four hospitals;
- Engage the relevant community structures during implementation of the HSS aspects of the Lofa hospitals project
- Oversee proper management of the Lofa hospitals project, including grants, operations and human resources deployed by IRC;
- Maintain regular contact with all partners including Sr. Hospital Management, Lofa CHT, UN agencies and other NGOs;
- Supervise other IRC staff deployed to the Lofa hospitals project, ensuring a high quality of hospital health services delivery by IRC hospital teams;
- Ensure delivery of hospital project activities in a timely fashion as well as input on quality improvement initiatives, regular monitoring, and report writing;
- Support the set up of effective record keeping and patient records at all supported hospitals, including exploring innovative methods of doing this;
- Ensure that the hospital project is implemented in accordance with established Liberia MOHSW and international protocols, guidelines and best practices.
Requirements
- Medical doctor, nurse or other clinical qualification with experience in hospital management holding at least a Master of public health qualification, Masters of health service planning & management or equivalent experience
- At least 7-10 years of management experience in public hospitals or health service management
- Experience with primay health care and reproductive health programs is an asset.
- Experience of working in an emergency context such as demonstrated experience in responding to disease outbreak including case management, case identification and contact tracing, surveillance, social mobilization and/or logistics to Ebola or other viral hemorrhagic fevers is preferred
- Experience in responding to epidemic diseases in developing countries such as outbreaks of meningitis, measles, and cholera can be considered
- Demonstrated knowledge of public health and surveillance practices
- Experience with reinforcing infection control in health facilities is an asset
- Extensive experience as a program/project coordinator with strong management and training capacity in developing countries
- Background in situation analysis, health assessments program implementation and monitoring
- Experience implementing health programming in hard to reach areas/displaced communities
- Experience in capacity building and mentoring of health staff
- Demonstrated leadership, communication, and facilitation skills
- Excellent interpersonal and problem-solving skills
- Excellent computer skills in programs such as: Microsoft word, excel, powerpoint.
- Ability to multitask, handle pressure well, improvise, be flexible , and adaptability to transitions
HOW TO APPLY:
Please follow this link to apply: http://www.aplitrak.com/?adid=YW5nZWxhdi4xODMzOC4zODMwQGlyYy5hcGxpdHJhay...
