Australian Bali Memorial Eye Centre Phase II Support Program
Photo courtesy of DFAT’s Australia Bali Memorial Eye Centre Phase II Support Program
Photo courtesy of DFAT’s Australia Bali Memorial Eye Centre Phase II Support Program
Photo courtesy of DFAT’s Australia Bali Memorial Eye Centre Phase II Support Program
Tetra Tech managed the second phase of the Australia Bali Eye Memorial Centre, on behalf of the Australian government, to bring much needed tertiary eye care to the people of Bali.
Following the tragic bomb blasts in Kuta, Bali, in October 2002, the Prime Minister of Australia set aside funding for the Australia Bali Eye Memorial Centre located at Rumah Sakit Indera (RS Indera) Hospital, to serve as a working memorial to the victims of the bombings, including 88 Australians. Tetra Tech was hired as the implementing services provider (ISP) to support facility and service improvements.
Cataracts, which are easily operable, were blinding or disabling thousands of Balinese each year. Before 2007 the vast majority of citizens could not afford the cost of care even if facilities were available to treat them. The Australia Bali Eye Memorial Centre (now the Bali Mandara Hospital) provides the people of Bali, particularly the poor, with affordable access to a state-of-the-art eye disease treatment facility. The facility also operates as a training location for Balinese medical professionals to specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of eye disease.
Our team’s support helped introduce new eye care specialties, procure relevant equipment, conduct appropriate training and technical assistance, achieve the relevant hospital public services status, and improve the hospital’s information management systems.
The main program activities focused on training for eye services with procurement of equipment, achieving hospital public service status, improving services for the rural poor, and providing best practices and clinical training for Indonesian eye surgeons.
Our team supported the improvement of 66 community health service units for rural and remote populations and enhanced cooperation between the major parties involved with eye doctor training and service delivery. These efforts included collaboration between the Bali Mandara Hospital and the Eye Department of RS Sanglah and Medical Faculty of Udayana University, which supported service delivery and eye surgeon clinical training. Through this initiative, 64 doctors and 66 nurses from Bali Mandara Hospital, RS Sanglah, and Udayana University were trained in cataract screening and treatment in post cataract surgery, how to use new equipment, and how to improve collaboration with provincial health offices.
The program aimed to ensure that the facility could operate to its full potential in line with government standards to provide tertiary eye services for the community in Bali and in eastern Indonesia. As a result of these efforts, the facility achieved all relevant certifications to become a public service facility.
Through this program, the team organized 45 training activities to increase staff skills and improve eye service delivery. The 70 new medical equipment units and computing and office equipment also allowed for expanded eye services from 5 to 10 sub-specialties. New activities include radiology and diagnostic and surgery activities. The program also included a new hospital information system that houses patient records, new patient registrations, billing, pharmacy records, and improved library services. These new records allowed for improved services for community members by keeping all of their medical needs organized.
During the project, more than 1,200 medical personnel were trained in specialized eye care; surgical procedures and local eye surgeries increased by more than 20 percent; and available eye care specialty services doubled. This six-year partnership between the Australian and Indonesian Governments has resulted in improved access to higher quality eye care and eye surgery for the poor and vulnerable in Bali.