Project proposal For

Establishing a
Biomedical Engineering
Centre of Excellence
In NEMMCS Hospital
Hossana

Prepared by:-Biomedical Engineering Dept

(NEMMCS Hossana)
Version:-8-09-2022
 Introduction
From June 2016 and up to December 2017, VSO (voluntary service oversees) is supporting
NEMMG Hospital in Hossana by means of providing a biomedical engineer volunteer.
Together with the local biomedical engineer there have been many efforts to increase the
impact of the biomedical engineering department in the hospital in order to better manage all
medical equipment and to make sure it is working properly.
Although there is a lot of room for further improvement, the biomedical engineering
department in the hospital is now established quite well.
However, at that moment only NEMMG hospital benefits from this while there is also much
potential for surrounding health facilities. Therefore the idea has come up to establish a
biomedical engineering center of excellence in Hossana. In short, this will consist of a team
of local biomedical engineers working together in a well-equipped environment. This way all
health facilities in the whole Hadiya zone can benefit from the efforts which were made until
now. Also the biomedical engineering department in Hossana can keep the momentum of
continuous improvement, currently the VISO organization does not supporting NEMMCSH.

1 Background

The profession of biomedical engineering (on bachelor degree level) only exists since few
years in Ethiopia. The first batch of biomedical engineers graduated in 2013 (GC) from
Jimma University. Only Addis Ababa and Jimma universities priors to offer bachelor degrees
in biomedical engineering and recently University of Gonder and Hawassa University also
started this program. Because the profession of biomedical engineering is relatively new for
Ethiopia, the number of biomedical engineers is limited in Ethiopia and their experience is
also limited.
Generally stated a biomedical engineer is trained to manage medical equipment. In a hospital
this includes inventory management, acceptance testing, procurement, corrective and
preventive maintenance, disposal etc.

2 Problem statement

Generally stated, the problem is that in many health facilities in Ethiopia medical equipment
is poorly managed. This means lack of maintenance, lack of user training and improper use
but also incorrect procurement and unfavorable deals with suppliers which means a waste of
money and efforts.
For example, if hospital management and staff does not have technical expertise, it is difficult
to buy the correct equipment with sufficient quality. Also there are many stories of (small)
health facilities who have received many equipment’s but are not using them because of lack
of training and knowledge or because there is a defect which they cannot repair themselves.
Biomedical engineers are the ones which could solve this problem but they are small in
number and also lack expertise because the profession of biomedical engineer is relatively
new for Ethiopia.
In Hadiya zone the same problems exist. There are only three biomedical engineers but they
exclusively work in the hospital where they are assigned. Especially in the two primary
hospitals, the biomedical engineers are not well equipped and face difficulties because of
working alone instead of in a team. Therefore the impact they have is limited.
Another problem is that all other health facilities in the zone, under which more than 50
health centers, are not receiving technical support from biomedical engineers. Most of the
facilities have some advanced medical equipment but sometimes they are not able to install it
or they do not know how to use it properly. Also when there is any problem with the
equipment, it is not repaired.

3 Goal and objectives

3.1 Goal
The main goal of this project is to form a powerful and highly effective team of biomedical
engineers in Hadiya zone by forming a center of excellence located in NEMMSC Hospital
Hossana. This will be done by relocating the manpower and expertise which is already
available in the zone, thereby using the already available potential. This way the additional
cost can be very low.

3.2 Objectives
The following are some of the objectives.

 Full filing Electromechanical tool kit

 Relocation of biomedical engineers to form a powerful engineering team
 Establish a zonal medical equipment management program
 Renovating the biomedical engineering workshop
 Procure tools and equipment
 Prepare safety stock for all spare parts which need to be available at all times.

4 Beneficiaries

Many parties will benefit from the biomedical engineering center of excellence, including the
following:
 All health facilities in the zone: Many health facilities (especially health
centers) are now struggling because they have no access to technical support.
When there is a zonal biomedical engineering team they will get the necessary
support when needed and will be able to use their medical equipment to the
full potential.
 Clinical staff: The clinical staff (doctors, nurses) sometimes struggle because
of equipment failure or lack of user training. When equipment is properly
maintained they are able to perform better at their job and will acquire more
job satisfaction and motivation.
 Biomedical engineers: They gain more knowledge because they share
experience and skills and can learn from each other. Also as a team they can
be better equipped and work in a more professional environment which will
stimulate them to perform better at their job. Also job satisfaction and
motivation will be increased.
 Community/patients: When hospital staff is better equipped with the necessary
equipment, then also patients benefit from this. For example, patients may
suffer from a lack of oxygen which could be solved by better maintenance and
procurement of oxygen devices.
5 Budget

Budget item Cost

Objective 1: Full filing Electromechanical tool kit
Objective 2: Relocation of biomedical engineers 0 Birr
Objective 3: Medical equipment management program 0 Birr
Objective 4: Renovating the BME workshop Birr ?
?
Objective 5: Procure equipment 100,000 Birr
Objective 6: Spare parts safety stock 100,000 Birr

Add 1: For objective 2 the cost is zero because the engineers will only be relocated. No extra
engineers will be hired. It should be noted that the salary costs may move from the individual
hospitals to the zonal health department. The zonal health department can earn this back by
charging the individual hospitals when making use of the services of the engineering team.
Another option is to charge all health facilities a small amount regardless if they make use of
the team or not.
Add 2: Establishing the zonal medical equipment management program will not add any cost because
it mainly consists of activities rather than materials.
Add 3: Establishing the spare parts safety stock will need some startup budget. However, all
purchasing cost can be earned back because health facilities will pay for it when receiving
spare parts. The actual cost is essentially only the interest cost of the current value of the
stock.