LifeNet International
About Company
LIFENET IS USING BUSINESS PRINCIPLES TO TRANSFORM HEALTHCARE
Drawing on years of experience in the business sector, LifeNet was built as a social franchise. We primarily work with existing, faith-based health centers that maintain their local owner/operate and convert to franchisees. These health facilities have access to LifeNet’s professional training, quality assurance, equipment and supplies, and branding. We provide comprehensive solutions to elevate the standard of care for millions of vulnerable patients. This structure enables us to leverage existing process, human, and physical capital for quick scale, high return on investment, and great impact for the health of millions of patients every year..
OUR VISION & MISSION
LIFENET’S MISSION IS TO TRANSFORM AFRICAN HEALTHCARE AND SAVE LIVES.
LifeNet International transforms African health facilities to provide quality, sustainable healthcare and save lives.
Guided by the belief that every individual deserves an equal opportunity to lead a healthy and whole life, LifeNet improves the quality of health systems from the ground up. We are dedicated to strengthening health systems by leveraging existing resources to maximize return on investment and promote local sustainability. Through the framework of a social franchise, we innovate and implement pragmatic responses to everyday health challenges facing the poor.
Our vision is to see every person in sub-Saharan Africa have the opportunity to lead a healthy and whole life. Our partners are making this a reality, saving thousands of lives every year and caring for over 8.5 million patient visits with high quality healthcare, every year.
WHAT WE DO
THE CONCEPT
THE LIFENET WAY IS AMBITIOUS AND BRAVE
The idea for LifeNet was born when US entrepreneur, Michael Spraggins, considered sub-Saharan Africa’s staggering mortality figures and saw in them an underserved market. Michael recruited an investment analyst and a registered nurse to join him in developing a new kind of solution to Burundi’s healthcare delivery challenges. In 2009, they assessed the viability of a program to ramp up Burundi’s supply of pharmaceuticals but soon discovered that the most important missing component in the supply chain was further upstream: at the point of diagnosis and consultation.
The church-based health centers LN encountered were uniquely positioned to address the health needs of their communities, and the health center staff wanted desperately to provide high-quality care. But they were up against crippling structural barriers.
Health centers without basic medical equipment could not offer patients the services they needed. Staff expended scarce time and resources traveling to and from the capital city of Bujumbura to search for essential medicines. Administrative staff struggled to keep track of earnings and expenses.
THE MODEL
THE LIFENET WAY IS SUSTAINABLE & SAVES LIVES
LifeNet is a social (conversion) franchise. Health facilities are owned and operated locally and, when they join the franchise, have access to LifeNet’s training, quality assurance, supportive supervision, and branding. The LifeNet model targets existing networks of faith-based health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa, equipping each with a suite of high-impact interventions and ensuring they attain and maintain quality care for the long term.
The LifeNet model is based on the belief that the answers to African health crises lie in the hands of skilled African healthcare providers. By strengthening local capacity in every link of the healthcare delivery chain, we can transform primary care for some of the most vulnerable communities in the world. We are dedicated to strengthening health systems by leveraging existing resources to maximize return on investment and promote local sustainability. With this emphasis on local sustainability, as well as impact and scale, LifeNet draws on innovative business principles to build in-country capacity and generate long-term effect.
