St. Joseph Hospital

Sr. Dr Hellen, a medical officer and a catholic nun, runs a district-level hospital that has been serving clients from Kilimanjaro, Tanga, Arusha to as far as Kenya for more than 21 years. She has a conviction that quality of care is a right for every client who attends St. Joseph Hospital, which is located in Moshi municipal Kilimanjaro and funded by the CSSC.   

Assuming leadership as the medical officer in charge in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, Sr. Dr Hellen experienced a challenging time. There was a more than 38% dip in the number of patients attending the hospital and a continued rise in the cost of hospital consumables.  

In spite of the enormous challenges she faced during the pandemic, Sr. Dr Hellen was never deterred from upholding and investing in quality initiatives as a way to improve customer experience, which would lead to an increase in the number of patients and increased revenue generation. 

The hospital started the SafeCare journey back in 2016 and attained SafeCare level 4, a level they maintained for the next seven years following two consecutive assessments in 2018 and 2021. In view of the above, Sr. Dr Hellen was determined to spearhead quality initiatives to increase the level of care to level 5, which translates to increased safety and satisfaction for clients who frequent the hospital.

Implementation of SafeCare initiatives has helped the hospital to attain a 25% rise in revenue attributed to improved client satisfaction. The hospital reports increased staff ownership and improved service efficiency. Customer satisfaction has improved to 92% and a monthly average of more than 5,000 outpatient clients. 

Sr. Dr Hellen shows no signs of slowing down in championing quality initiatives in the hospital, having achieved Level 5 in June 2023.  She plans to move the hospital to a Regional Referral facility, which in turn will increase both clients and revenue at St. Joseph Hospital.