University of Michigan, Ross School of Business:

The Ihangane Project and Professor Paul Clyde at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business have partnered with Ruli District Hospital to identify means of improving the cost-effectiveness, quality, and sustainability of its health care delivery system.

Developing Efficient Communication Systems between Rural Health Centers and Ruli District Hospital

Team members: Katy Bossart, Chris Chojnacki, Kristin Girouard, Jessica Meyer, Katie O’Hare

Project Objective & Origin

The objective of this project is to create real and impactful change in the Ruli District Hospital care system by identifying the challenges in the Ruli District Hospital out-patient referral system and proposing solutions to correct and/or alleviate the effects of these challenges. Our project emanated from Ross MBA Greg Thorne’s research in the summer of 2010 regarding the unpredictability of patient flow from regional referring Health Centers to Ruli District Hospital.

William Davidson Institute Global Impact Fellowship:

Greg Thorne, 2010 MBA Intern~  Greg is currently an MBA student at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. He was chosen to work in Ruli, Rwanda as a Williamson-Davidson Institute Global Impact Intern because of his clear commitment to international development and poverty alleviation. During his internship, Greg worked with Ruli District Hospital to address issues of financial sustainability. He performed an extensive evaluation of the administrative and financial aspects of the hospital, and provided recommendations for ways that the hospital can improve productivity and revenue generation. He also provided a detailed report to The Ihangane Project and the hospital outlining potential business models for local fortified sosoma production. He became a friend to many in Ruli, and he will be missed…..especially on the basketball court!