OECS launches leadership development course in health care for member states

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 – The OECS Secretariat continues to build capacity in the health sector with the launch of a Virtual Leadership Development Program (VLDP). The VLDP which is being organized by the OECS HIV/AIDS Programme Unit (OECS/HAPU) in collaboration with Management Sciences for Health, focuses on enhancing leadership and management skills in the health sector. It will be launched on March 15, 2010. Kala Dowlath is the Training Co-ordinator at the OECS/HAPU: “The programme will be delivered via distance learning using a combination of web-based and print methodologies, hence the term virtual. We are going this way because the entire OECS region including the non-independent OECS Member States will be participating. We are hoping to have teams of four to ten persons representing each participating country. Hence as one could imagine, it would be very expensive to bring all of these persons together to do this training. So we are tapping into the economies of scale that we can achieve when using distance learning methodologies to reach more people. The intention is to build capacity in all the OECS Countries.”

The goal of the VLDP is to strengthen the leadership skills and competencies of country teams as they implement HIV programmes and concurrently begin the process of integrating HIV into the Primary Health Care systems.

Management Sciences for Health (MSH), a US-based nonprofit organization, is providing technical expertise for the programme. MSH specializes in the integrated approach to building high-impact sustainable programs that address critical challenges in leadership, health systems management, health service delivery, human resources, and medicines: “Management Sciences for Health is internationally renowned for capacity development in the health sector. They developed the VLDP and have delivered it in over 40 countries worldwide. A previous programme was delivered in the Caribbean in 2004. The topics speak directly to building leadership capacity in the area of health. Two persons from the OECS participated in the 2004 programme and rated it very highly, not only regarding the information received from it but because of the practical nature of the programme. So I am hoping that when our country teams participate they will develop skills in leading and managing. One of the things teams will have to do is identify a problem in the work place and develop a plan to resolve or manage it. The teams will be required to implement that plan and this is going to be monitored. So the programme has a very practical focus.”-Dowlath

Topics to be covered in the Virtual Leadership Development Program are: Leadership in Health Organizations, Identifying Challenges, Leadership Competencies, Communication and Making Change. The course targets persons who function as leaders and managers at the operational level in the health sector. It will run for 13 weeks, from March 15 –June 18, 2010.

Ms. Judith Morrain-Webb of Trinidad & Tobago and Grenada, and Ms. Stacey Irwin Downey of the USA are the facilitators for the OECS VLDP. Ms. Morrain-Webb is a Research Associate at the Centre for Health Sciences at the University of Trinidad and Tobago and is an adjunct faculty at the Arthur Lock Jack School of Business at UWI St Augustinie and the UWI Cave Hill School of Management. She has an extensive portfolio in education, management and HIV/AIDS as well as vast experience in mentoring and coaching. Ms. Stacey Irwin Downey has over thirteen years experience in private and non-profit management in the United States and in international organizations. Her expertise also lies in Project Management, Business Operations, human resource management and organizational development.

Media Contact: Raymond O’Keiffe Email: rokeiffe@oecs.org Tel. 1-758- 455-6305 or 455-OECS

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