Program Manager - Kybele Ghana

Addressing the Third Delay: Scaling Up an Obstetric Triage System to Reduce Delay and Improve the Quality of Care in High-Volume Hospitals in Ghana

Background

The Program Manager position will support Kybele-Ghana’s grant-funded project, “Addressing the Third Delay: Scaling Up an Obstetric Triage System to Reduce Delay and Improve the Quality of Care in High-Volume Hospitals in Ghana.” The aim of this project is to transition to scale-independent, self-supporting obstetric triage systems in high-volume hospitals across Ghana.

Kybele’s Obstetric Triage Implementation Package (OTIP) + Modified Early Obstetric Warning System (MEOWS) innovation prevents critical delays. It improves the quality of assessment by promoting rapid assessment for all women, prompt prioritization of women at risk, and the establishment of risk-appropriate, high-quality treatment care plans.

The OTIP model empowers frontline healthcare workers to tackle life-threatening challenges through:

(a) the establishment of a dedicated and equipped triage area,

(b) institutionalization of a traffic light wristband system accompanied by a corresponding acuity chart to identify women as high-, intermediate, or low risk, and

(c) integration of a time-saving triage assessment form that guides midwives towards making a quick and accurate diagnosis and treatment decisions in high-stress situations even when doctors are unavailable.

MEOWS improves the continuity of care for women throughout their hospitalization using a higher-level monitoring system to promptly identify risk factors and escalate appropriate care for women who need timely medical attention.

Over the 30 months of funding from Grand Challenges Canada, Kybele-Ghana will:

1. Scale OTIP+MEOWS to ~75 regional and district hospitals nationally by leveraging public sector clinicians as champions to cascade training to labor ward staff and dedicating triage space in all target facilities.
2. Validate the impact of OTIP+MEOWS on timely and appropriate care in Ghana by further refining and contextualizing the package for scale, validating appropriateness and outcomes for MEOWS in the Ghanaian context, and transitioning monitoring activities to hospital in- service programs and quality improvement systems.
3. Transition full ownership of OTIP+MEOWS in Ghana to the Ghana Health Service by incorporating training material in pre- and in-service trainings for labor ward staff, integrating quality assurance indicators within the GHS Holistic Assessment Checklist, integrating OTIP+MEOWS forms in the national electronic medical record system, and securing long-term financial and human resource commitments from the GHS.

Program Manager Position

The Program Manager will serve as the lead coordinator and support for all Project activities—providing overall project coordination, supervision, and quality assurance oversight to ensure the program is implemented with fidelity to the evidence-based model, is aligned with the detailed implementation plan and project budget and is carried out in compliance with funder requirements.

Specifically, the Program Manager will serve as a liaison to the Ghana Health Service and targeted health facilities; will provide overall on-the-ground project supervision of day-to-day activities, including preparing for and coordinating rollout of OTIP + MEOWS training and implementation at the target facilities; and regularly reporting on project details through written and verbal reports. The Program Manager and will spend 100% of his/her time on the Project.

Based in Accra with frequent travel to target health facilities in the Project regions, the Project Manager will ensure that the project continues to proceed smoothly and provide quality assurance leadership at every implementation step. The Program Manager will provide Kybele-Ghana and Kybele U.S. with frequent project updates and provide required reports and deliverables according to the milestones set forth in the grant agreement. Finally, the Program Manager will support the Financial Manager and M&E Manager to ensure quality execution of monitoring and evaluation and financial systems in line with funder's requirements.

Key responsibilities for the first Project Year will include, but not be limited to, the following areas. Precise work plans will be established between the Program Manager and the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) in the first month of employment. The next project year work plans will be developed in the final quarter of the active project year.

Project Planning and Stakeholder Coordination

• Coordinate with TAG on target hospital determination based on selection criteria
• Liaise with the GHS Quality Assurance team on the integration of indicators into the national electronic medical record system
• Coordinate with TAG on consideration of including OTIP + MEOWS in pre-service training
• Participate in regular check-ins with Kybele management, TAG, GHS, and Project Principle Investigators and provide written progress reports to update Kybele regarding progress, successes and barriers as needed; Inform Kybele management if there are barriers to successful progress

Project Implementation

• Support and oversee selection and training of Region 1 and 2 “hub” and “spoke” Clinical Champions
• Support and oversee Region 1 and Region 2 cascade trainings by Clinical Champions
• Ensure that all Project assessments, trainings, follow-up visits, and data collection are completed on time with the appropriate level of quality according to the approved project objectives and timeline
• Provide site-visits and support to target health facilities, ensuring proper infrastructure, equipment, and implementation of the approach
• Orchestrate Learning Network Dissemination meeting for Regions 1 and 2
• Coordinate logistics in preparation of Kybele team visits and trainings

Project Reporting

• Write detailed progress reports on implementation, milestones, and data using the Results-Based Management Accountability Framework (RMAF)
• Support M&E Manager in capacity enhancements of hospital quality assurance teams in data collection, interpretation and management
• Facilitate financial management through careful tracking and recording of receipts and expenses under the Project

Required Skills or Experience

• Degree in any Public Health Management, Health Economics, Health Systems or Clinicals
• Program Leadership Expertise