The Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences and Dhulikhel Hospital in Nepal have announced a multi-year agreement that will advance clinical education, training, research, and care both in Nepal and throughout the Mount Sinai Health System to promote greater global health equity and access.
The partners will seek opportunities to collaborate in several areas, including developing clinical programs, courses, and training; faculty, staff, and medical student and resident exchanges to work or train abroad; and joint scientific research and quality improvement projects. Through Mount Sinai as a lead anchoring institution, the partnership will also engage the Academic Model Providing Access to Health (AMPATH) Consortium, a global network of 15 universities and academic health centers that aims to improve health care in underserved communities by fostering long-term, equitable partnerships with ministries of health and other stakeholders to build public health systems and promote well-being. As an AMPATH Consortium partner institution, the Arnhold Institute for Global Health will lend its expertise in global health care, training, and research throughout central Nepal, which has a population of about 2.2 million.
"We are thrilled to support our growing partnership with Dhulikhel Hospital and Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences in Nepal," said Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of Icahn Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs of the Mount Sinai Health System. "Mount Sinai aims to build longstanding innovative global partnerships to achieve a broader impact on health systems beyond our own, and in communities throughout the world. Mount Sinai has been a part of the highly successful AMPATH Kenya partnership for many years, and we are proud to move forward with a similar collaborative effort in Nepal. Together, with our shared expertise and knowledge, we will work to improve health for our most vulnerable patients here in New York and with our partners in Nepal."
Since 2015, the Arnhold Institute for Global Health has participated in AMPATH Kenya, an alliance between Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya, and the AMPATH Consortium. AMPATH Kenya, the first AMPATH partnership, was founded in 1990 with Indiana University. AMPATH Global also includes partnerships in Ghana and Mexico.
"Through the partnership in Nepal, we will join with Dhulikhel Hospital and Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences in their mission to deliver quality health care to all," said Rachel C. Vreeman, MD, MS, Chair of Global Health and Health System Design and Director of the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at Icahn Mount Sinai. "We aim to build a sustainable health system together—one that reduces disparities, creates a model for how to deliver care that both prevents and treats disease, shapes tomorrow's health leaders, generates critical research, and mutually strengthens our institutions."
The Arnhold Institute for Global Health has previously collaborated with the Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences and Dhulikhel Hospital on joint research that focused on addressing major public health challenges in maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, and mental health. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the new partnership and forthcoming efforts by the health institutions will highlight a shared need to strengthen health care resiliency and response, ensuring the world's most vulnerable patients are able to access critical care services amid global crises and circumstances.
Ram K. M. Shrestha, MD, Executive Director and Founder of Dhulikhel Hospital, said, "We believe that this collaboration will open new horizons in global health that will touch and transform countless lives."
Rose House, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, and Pediatrics, at Icahn Mount Sinai, will serve as the AMPATH Nepal Partnership Director and work with her Nepal colleagues to lead efforts onsite. She added, "As our Nepal partners come together with the Mount Sinai community, we will strengthen our ability to care for patients as we learn from one another and work together to creatively find solutions to common health care challenges."
