Building on the many years of collaboration between healthcare professionals in Ireland and the Diocese of Mzuzu, Malawi through the Gorey Malawi Health Partnership, Sharon Morrow, CEO Bon Secours Hospital Dublin and a member of the Gorey Malawi Health Partnership, led a delegation of Management Team members Mary Stenson, Head of Finance and Alan Burke, Head of Mission to Malawi in September.
The purpose of the visit was to engage with community and healthcare leaders in several parts of Malawi with a view to exploring how Bon Secours Hospital Dublin (BSHD) and Bon Secours Health System (BSHS) could financially and professionally support the development of healthcare services, provided locally by healthcare professionals.
Over the course of their five day visit they met with Bishop John Ryan (a native of Tipperary) of the diocese of Mzuzu, Moses Chimayi, Hospital Manager at St John’s Hospital, Mzuzu, Her Excellency Kate Brady, Ambassador of Ireland to Malawi at her Embassy office in Lilongwe, Senior and Local Traditional Chiefs in the area of Chigwere as well as the Hospital Manager of St Marcel’s Hospital, Chigwere, Irish missionary priests in Mua in the south eastern region, the Irish charity ‘Wells for Zoe’ and an orphanage caring for new-born and toddler babies in Mzuzu.
All of the exploratory conversations provided rich insights into how current and new projects might be progressed in a way that will empower the local delivery of healthcare services in much needed rural and urban settings and build on the existing collaborative efforts of the Gorey Malawi Health Partnership, the ultimate aim being to contribute to an improvement in healthcare outcomes among some of Malawi’s most in need.
The BSHD visit to Malawi was part of a special project being undertaken in the bicentenary year of the Sisters of Bon Secours who, as an expression of their solidarity and care for those most in need, have also pledged their support. It is hoped that this is the beginning of another phase of collaboration between Malawi and Ireland and that, in time, opportunities might become available for BSHD staff colleagues to experience working in a healthcare environment in Malawi.
If you would like to know more about the work of the Gorey Malawi Health Partnership please contact Joe Gallagher jgallagher@ucd.ie or visit https://www.ghealthresearch.eu where the research they carry out with UCD is detailed.
The Irish delegation, Alan Burke, Mary Stenson and Sharon Morrow on their visit to Malawi to explore how Bon Secours Hospital Dublin (BSHD) and Bon Secours Health System (BSHS) could financially and professionally support the development of healthcare services, provided there locally by healthcare professionals.
