OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The shipping container lab will offer hands-on training for healthcare providers in Uganda, addressing a shortage of professionals and improving care. It was made by Pipeline Worldwide and UNMC.
- In this new lab, you'll find mannequins to simulate patient experiences and video technology to record and playback educational sessions.
- There are only 175 OBGYNs in Uganda, and only four in the northern part of the country, where they serve hundreds of thousands of people.
- The lab will be shipped in June to Uganda and is expected to arrive in the capital city of Moyo at the end of October.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
It looks like a regular shipping container from the outside, but come inside, and you'll see it's been transformed into a medical training lab. I'm at UNMC's Catalyst building, getting an inside look at what it's for and where it's going.
In this new lab, you'll find mannequins to simulate patient experiences, video technology to record and playback educational sessions, and soon, other medical equipment like incubators and ultrasound machines—all heading to Moyo, Uganda.
Would you tell me why a shipping container?
"Yes, it's really a unique and innovative solution to a persistent problem that they have in the remote region of northern Uganda that we serve," said Dr. Jeff Smith, chief strategy officer at Pipeline Worldwide.
The lab, built by the nonprofit Pipeline Worldwide and UNMC's Global Center for Health Security, simulates a hospital, providing hands-on experience for current healthcare providers in Uganda and attracting more.
"These are people that have so much talent and capabilities; they just need other people to come alongside them to help improve the lives of people in their community," said Jamie Nollette, co-founder and executive director of Pipeline Worldwide.
There are only 175 OBGYNs in Uganda, and only four in the northern part of the country, where they serve hundreds of thousands of people. There, access to healthcare is limited.
"This area has a really high rate of maternal and neonatal mortality. Just by having the ability to provide ongoing skills, we really expect to be able to reduce those rates significantly," said Nollette.
This transformed shipping container, now a lab, will give healthcare workers in Uganda hands-on experience to help them provide better care.
The facility is just one piece of a new campus Pipeline Worldwide is building in the country to help attract more workers to the healthcare field and to learn other trades.
The lab will be shipped in June to Uganda and is expected to arrive in the capital city of Moyo at the end of October.
