Lessons on Health Administration from Overseas: Christian Hospitals in developing countries

In 2000, Christian Connections for International Health (CCIH) observed that many mission hospitals in developing countries were struggling for survival. Information on appropriate solutions to these problems and how to plan for the future was not widely available. CCIH took on the task of addressing this problem by organizing a research and consultation process for the purpose of providing mission agencies and churches with tools that can help them make productive and appropriate decisions about the current and future of their hospitals.

At that time, some of the questions that Christian Hospitals discussed were the following: 1. What is the role of the Christian hospital in improving the health status of the people it serves? 2. What is the role of the hospital in the ministry of the local church? 3. What institutional structures are appropriate for today and the near future? 4. What should be sustained, what can be sustained, and by whom?

Ten years after the 2000 study and dissemination of the results and recommendations of the researchers, a survey was conducted to find out if the hospitals implemented the recommendations in the 2000 study. In April 2010, an online survey was conducted to update of the 2000 report and assess the current state of the hospitals, the extent to which they have overcome the challenges that the 2000 report identified, and what new challenges have emerged. Preliminary results and lessons learned that might be relevant to US hospitals will be presented.