Sierra Leone: Reproductive, Maternal, & Newborn Health Clinical Program Manager

Position Title: Reproductive, Maternal, & Newborn Health Clinical Program Manager

Reports To: Chief Medical Officer, PIH Sierra Leone

Location: Sierra Leone (Kono District)

Organizational Profile:

Partners In Health (PIH) is an international health organization relentlessly committed to improving the health of the poor and marginalized. PIH partners with local governments to build local capacity and works closely with impoverished communities to deliver high-quality health care, address the root causes of illness, train providers, advance research, and advocate for global policy change.

PIH currently has implementation programs in Haiti, Rwanda, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Peru, Mexico, Russia, Sierra Leone and Navajo Nation. Through our partnership with Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, we support a wide range of programs in dozens of other countries around the world.

Our Work in Sierra Leone:

Partners In Health (PIH) began supporting the government of Sierra Leone in response to the Ebola epidemic in October 2014. Recognizing the large need for continued investments in the health system after Ebola, PIH is committed to long-term health system strengthening in support of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS), guided by the same principles as our emergency response and our work around the world: public sector accompaniment, integrated and comprehensive services, social justice, nimbleness and flexibility, partnership, community ownership, and evidence-based interventions. In the aftermath of the epidemic, PIH is committed to supporting the delivery of comprehensive health services in Sierra Leone, from the community level to the health center and to referral hospitals.

As part of overall health system strengthening, reducing maternal and newborn mortality is a core priority of both the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) and PIH Sierra Leone (PIH SL). Ending preventable maternal deaths is one of four PIH Clinical Strategic objectives globally. Sierra Leone has the highest maternal mortality ratio in the world at 1,360 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (World Bank, 2015). The vast majority of these maternal deaths are avoidable through strong health systems where quality primary prevention measures and emergency obstetric and newborn care are universally accessible. The health of newborns is also in a state of crisis with a neonatal mortality ratio of 39 per 1,000 live births.

Not only do PIH priorities align with Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL)initiatives, PIH SL Maternal Newborn Health (MNH) program priorities support the greater global health goals outlined by the global community in the Sustainable Development Goals, which includes specific targets for reducing maternal and neonatal mortality and achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health services. Our plan is that PIH can support Sierra Leone in achieving these ambitious targets through our MNH and other programmatic work in the focal district of Kono as well as through our national level policy and advocacy work.

PIH SL’s work is focused in Kono District, which has one district hospital, KoiduGovernment Hospital (KGH), which also serves as the Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) facility. As well there are 86peripheral health units (PHUs) in Kono District. These facilities serve a total population of 505,767. Among the PHUs, 5 facilities have been designated to serve as Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC) facilities.

PIH is currently providing support at KGH with CEmONC services and plans to expand its support to BEmONC facilities in Kono District. PIH also supports a private primary care clinic and maternity center, Wellbody Clinic (WBC), which was founded by Wellbody Alliance in 2007. WBC provides reproductive, maternal, and newborn health services, including a labour and delivery center. PIH SL plans to build a strong MNH Program through strengthening CEmONC services at KGH, BEmONC and primary care services including antenatal care, postnatal care, family planning, and HIV/TB management at the PHUs and WBC, while also expanding to community level programs building on our previous successes in HIV/TB and Ebola survivor community health workers (CHW) initiatives. PIH SL plans to develop a model health system in Kono District in partnership with the MOHS and District Health Management Team (DHMT), placing major emphasis on the district referral hospital, Koidu Government Hospital (KGH) and theWellbody Primary Care Clinic & Maternity Center.

PIH SL is ambitiously setting out to transform Koidu Government Hospital into the leading Maternal & Newborn Health hospital in West Africa, serving as a Centerof Excellence in both the delivery of quality clinical care and as a health care teaching institution for the region.

Position Overview:

The Reproductive, Maternal, & Newborn Health (RMNH) Clinical Program Manager will be the lead strategist and manager for the PIH SL Maternal & Newborn Health Program, including transforming KGH into a Maternal & Newborn Center of Excellence and transforming Kono District into a model health system for maternal & newborn health. The Reproductive, Maternal, & Newborn Health (RMNH) Clinical Program Manager will do this by working collaboratively with thePIH SL team and the MOHS in Sierra Leone to advance PIH’s current health systems strengthening efforts.

Specific Responsibilities:

Strategy & Program Management

• Ambitiously lead, define, organize, and supervise the Strategy development and implementation of the PIH Maternal and Newborn Health Program including developing and implementing a plan to transform KGH into a Maternal & Newborn Center of Excellence
• Work as part of a multidisciplinary team of international and national staff to provide high quality reproductive, maternal, and newborn health care to an extremely vulnerable population
• Supervise PIH clinical RMNH activities at MOHS and PIH healthfacilities
• Lead strategy development and initiatives to expand clinical mentorship and training programs for health care workers at MOHS and PIH health facilities
• Lead the identification and implementation of priority clinical interventions to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality
• Co-Lead the development of Neonatal Care capacity building at KGHas part of a multidisciplinary team
• Lead strategy development and initiatives to expand PIH support to additional MOHS facilities in the district, focused on Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care facilities
• Collaborate with Monitoring, Evaluation, Quality, and Research team and clinical staff to lead efforts to strengthen maternal and newborn health data collection, tracking, evaluation, and QI efforts related to maternal and newborn health at MOHS facilities and Wellbody Primary Care Clinic & Delivery Center.
• Collaborate with finance department and Chief Medical Director on development and oversight of project budgets relating to RMNH activities
• Collaborate with Director of Policy & Partnerships and Boston Development team to aggressively pursue and maintain private and public sector funding opportunities including providing assistance for grant proposals, reports, concept notes, and other materials for potential and current funders
• Serve as an advocate and spokesperson for Maternal & Newborn Health initiatives in Sierra Leone among internal and external audiences for fundraising, advocacy and other purposes
• Report to the Chief Medical Officer on any relevant information linked to RMNH activities and participate in annual planning andbudgeting activities for the project

Clinical Care, Accompaniment, & Training

• Provide direct clinical care as needed for women and newborns in outpatient and inpatient clinical settings at MOHS facilities andWellbody Primary Care Clinic & Delivery Center including the provision of comprehensive antenatal, intrapartum, postnatal, family planning, reproductive, and essential newborn health services
• Provide clinical accompaniment and mentorship to midwives, nurses, and other maternity health care workers to provide quality maternal and newborn health services at MOHS facilities and Wellbody Primary Care Clinic & Delivery Center in collaboration with the PIH clinical team
• Develop and lead Maternal and Newborn Health clinical trainingactivities that target MOHS and PIH staff Center in collaboration with the PIH maternity team and MOHS
• Develop and implement protocols & treatment guidelines related toEmONC services, management of major direct obstetric complications, and other priority clinical areas in RMNH in collaboration with PIH clinical team and MOHS clinical leadership
• Support implementation and improvement of prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) and early infant diagnosis(EID) services at MOHS and Wellbody Primary Care Clinic & Delivery Center
• Provide direct mentorship to the Wellbody Clinic Maternal Health Manager in the management and supervision of clinical services and staff at the Wellbody Primary Care Clinic & Delivery Center

Policy & Partnerships

• Serve as the focal person for engagement with MOHS on RMNH strategy and policy on a district and national level as directed by the PIH SL senior leadership team
• Liaise and collaborate with partner organizations and agencies in RMNH programming and activities to further promote and strengthen reproductive, maternal, and newborn health

Qualifications:

• Eagerness to create and implement an ambitious Strategy and Vision for the RMNH program and Maternal & Newborn Center of Excellence inKono district.

• Professional Midwife or Obstetrician/Gynecologist with 3+ years of clinical experience and valid license

• Clinical and/or programmatic experience in global health delivery in resource limited settings (Experience designing, implementing, and managing maternal health programs)

• Experience managing high-risk pregnancies and major obstetric complications

• Experience and interest in providing clinical education, training, or mentorship to health workers

• Proven commitment to social justice and passion for serving the poor and vulnerable

• Ability to be flexible and effective in the face of unexpected challenges

• Evidence of providing culturally sensitive and competent quality care in astressful and resource-limited environment

• Excellent communication skills including exemplary interpersonal communication skills, verbal and written, required to effectively engage with senior leadership, partners, and clinicians

• Humility, a sense of curiosity, and commitment to creatively tackling seemingly impossible problems

• Sense of humor

• Ability to live in Kono District, Sierra Leone full-time required

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