A NETWORK MODEL FOR HIGHLY SPECIALIZED MEDICAL SERVICES IN ETHIOPIA
Gotland Special Higher Clinic is set up to bring medical services in specialties, such as dental, maxillofacial surgery, ear nose and throat and women’s healthcare. The first such medical service will be established in Bahir Dar region in Ethiopia.
An Ethiopian limited company is under formation, owned by Dr Samuel Assafa, Swedish citizen of Ethiopian origin, trained at the Karolinska, his maxillofacial surgery specialty obtained in Sweden. Dr Assafa is based in Bahir Dar in Northern Ethiopia. Board members – apart from Dr Assafa – Hans Forsslund, former Chief Executive Officer Public Dental Service Gothland Region.
The business concept consists of offering basic medical services on a non commercial basis, supplemented by a network of incoming specialists from Sweden to serve on a rotation basis, during one to three months.
The financial structure of the Ethiopian company is planned to consist of substantial contributions in the form of specialized equipment obtained in Sweden, an Ethiopian loan for the building construction.
The strong aspect of the business is the setup with a network of voluntary specialists, at low cost, but with a high level of medical competence, basically not available in the country, at least not outside the capital. The business concept could easily be extended to other parts of Ethiopia, if proven successful in Bahir Dar. Another strong aspect of the business is the supply of full medical status equipment obtained from Sweden.
