SUPPORTING
THE FONDATION
MÉDICALE
D'AMPASIMANJEVA
(FMA)

GENERAL INFORMATION:

PROJECT BACKGROUND
In the early 1960s, thanks to the work of Don Mario Prandi (founder of the Houses of Charity), the Diocese of Reggio Emilia intervened in the Municipality of Ampasimanjeva. The isolation and precarious living standards of the Antaimoro ethnic population led the priest to support the FMA – Fondation Médicale d’Ampasimanjeva, hospital of the Diocese of Fianarantsoa.
Context
The Fondation Médicale d’Ampasimanjeva is the only hospital for a population of about 110,000 inhabitants. Furthermore, many patients come from outside the area, as they do not find assistance in the healthcare facilities of the Region. The hospital includes departments of pediatrics, maternity-obstetrics, and general medicine, for a total of 98 beds, plus the operating room, the houses for the treatment of tuberculosis, the laboratory for biochemistry, and the pharmacy.
On an annual basis, the hospital carries out hundreds of operations (caesarean sections, obstetrics, and abdominal surgery) and tens of thousands of consultations.
The activity, however, is even more comprehensive, as over the years the FMA and RTM have promoted prevention, promotion, and healthcare actions as well as the training of community agents and village midwives.
The staff has over 50 employees (doctors, nurses, health and social workers, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, drivers, cleaning agents, and maintenance workers).

GENERAL INFORMATION:

GOAL
RTM provides institutional and methodological support to the FMA to improve the population’s living standards and ensure the sustainability of the hospital.
ACTIVITIES
RTM’s support is structural and goes beyond the funding of specific projects, as it is rooted in a relationship that belongs to the history and identity of both bodies. From a technical point of view, the support activity is aimed at improving the quality of the services offered by the hospital (through staff training, equipment adaptation, etc.) and supporting healthcare promotion and prevention campaigns in the target municipalities.
In 2019, the FMA started the project “Strengthening the autonomy and effectiveness of the hospital of the Fondation Medicale d’Ampasimanjeva”, funded by Fondation Assistance Internationale. In cooperation with the Reggio Emilia Diocese Missionary Centre and the Marian Congregation of Charity Houses, RTM supports the FMA in a process of internal reorganisation and requalification of services.
Starting from the consolidation of the results of the previous years (improvement of maternal and child healthcare services, construction of a photovoltaic system for energy autonomy), RTM supports the staff on multiple levels:
- organisational analysis focused on inspiring principles, beneficiaries, staff;
- ridefinition of hospital structure and services;
- creation of a dedicated network for drinkable water, a LAN network for informatisation of data, and requalification of the lab with the purchase of new instruments;
- rationalisation of drug purchase and storage;
- reorganisation of maintenance staff;
- support to staff training;
- accountancy support for the financial check-up with the Diocese of Fianarantsoa (responsible for the hospital).
PARTNERS
- Fondation Médical d’Ampasimanjeva (FMA)
- Congregazione Mariana delle Case di Carità
PHOTOS AND VIDEO
