Health Service Planning Post War,

Lebanese Republic (Middle East)

Client Issue: Lebanon is a small, largely mountainous country located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean. It is bordered by Syria to the north & east, & Israel to the south. Until the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), the country enjoyed relative calm & prosperity, driven by tourism, agriculture & banking. Immediately following the end of the war, there were extensive efforts to revive the economy & rebuild national infrastructure. In 1993 the government became concerned that during the war local hospitals throughout the country had been virtually destroyed & sought advice on how national hospital services could be redeveloped. Dr. Ronnie Pollock from Synergy was appointed jointly by the Lebanese Government & the UK Dept of Health to review the situation & prepare a new Strategic Plan.

Solution: Visits were made to 3 of the major private hospitals & to 8 of the 14 government hospitals throughout the country. These revealed the huge contrasts between the well equipped efficient private hospitals & the seriously run down – in some instances derelict – government hospitals.

Outcome: We identified as critical the future relationship between Private & Public Hospitals & concluded that, from their existing baseline position, given the projected levels of expenditure, there was no practical likelihood of the public hospitals challenging the private sector on a competitive basis. We therefore recommended a strategy of cooperation delivered through two distinct government funded channels.
- 4 Private Hospitals in the main cities, dealing with the more complex dependent cases & supported by a high level of technology & specialist skills.
- 16 Public Hospitals undertaking the care of the large volume of lower risk cases which can largely be cared for on an ambulatory or short stay basis - & thus through fewer beds.
Our report was accepted by the Lebanese Government & implementation began.

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