Strong, well-functioning health systems need strong leadership, management, and governance. Over the next couple of weeks, leading up to conversations that MSH is hosting at the Global Symposium on Health Systems Research next month in Vancouver, we will be sharing stories and insights about the role of leadership, management and governance in health systems strengthening. This is the second in a series of four blog posts on this topic. See part one.
Linvell Nkhoma is a midwife manager at Mitundu Community Hospital in northern Lilongwe, Malawi. She lives on the hospital premises so she can be on call 24 hours a day for emergencies or complicated cases that less experienced midwives don't know how to manage.
"We have limited space, only three delivery beds for 400 deliveries a month," Linvell said.
Linvell and her colleagues were concerned about overcrowding, and more importantly, the high rates at which mothers and babies were dying during deliveries.