Partners in Health (PIH) is a global healthcare NGO founded in 1987 to provide a preferential option for the poor in healthcare. The organization originally developed as a community health project in Haiti and has since expanded to several countries around the world—Mexico being one of the most recent in 2012. In Mexico, PIH operates through its sister organization, Compañeros en Salud (CES). CES partners directly with the Mexican government to strengthen healthcare delivery in the rural state of Chiapas (the southernmost and poorest state in Mexico) by providing mentorship to recently graduated Mexican medical students serving in primary health clinics, training community health workers to support chronic diseases patients, and accompanying patients requiring higher level care as they navigate the health system.
Definition of Problem
A young organization, CES is still working to develop new programs and expand its existing services in order to better deliver care to rural communities in Chiapas. Beginning in 2012 with clinics in just two communities, the organization now operates clinics in ten communities and supports community health workers in six. For many years, it was nearly impossible to find medical doctors to serve the rural clinics in Chiapas. Today, CES’s global health education model attracts medical students from top medical schools throughout all of Mexico. Through its “Right to Health” reference program, CES is able to assist patients requiring more specialized attention beyond just primary care coverage. Given the diversity of these operations, there are many paths for CES to pursue in the future, and it is still uncertain where the organization should best invest its resources to maximize impact. CES would like to work with a Development Advisory Team to investigate and evaluate different strategic options for the organization’s future.
Initial Ideas and Options
- Explore the costs and the benefits of options such as:
- Expanding the number of clinics supported in Chiapas
- Expanding the types of health coverage provided
- Expanding services to another state in Mexico
- Increasing focus on the policy level
- Increasing focus on medical education
- Work closely with CES staff to understand the organization and its current operations.
- Identify organizations that have faced similar dilemmas in expansion and development. Write short case studies that draw lessons from those experiences.
Definition of Success
A systematic report exploring options for CES’s future activities, based on evaluation of each of the above potential options and comparative analysis of similar organizations, that helps us to understand how each strategy would increase our impact, and provide the basis for dialogue within the organization to consider these strategic options.