Today U.S. Ambassador Alexander Arvizu and Prime Minister Edi Rama inaugurated renovations financed by USAID at the Regional Hospital in Lezha.  The Ambassador, Prime Minister, and Minister of Health, Ilir Beqaj, cut the ceremonial ribbon and unveiled memorial plaques recognizing USAID assistance to the hospital and then toured the hospital to view other USG investments.  The Regional Hospital of Lezha is one of three “pilot” hospitals that USAID has been working with on adopting better hospital management systems.

USAID works with Albania’s health institutions to enhance transparency and accountability through the introduction of best international practices for hospital management and community involvement.  Since February 2012, USAID has worked with the Regional Hospitals of Lezha and Korça, and the Tirana University Hospital on Gynecology and Obstetrics “Queen Geraldine,” to introduce improvements such as employee evaluation and new employee orientation programs in human resource departments, a visitor control program to manage the flow of visitors, and incident reporting mechanisms--all standard features in public hospitals in other countries. 

The hospital’s new reception area is an important step in transforming Albania’s public hospitals into well-functioning, community-centered organizations.  USAID is supporting the Ministry of Health’s broader efforts to improve hospital management practices and create conditions for better customer experience and population access to health services.