When the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Health began reforming its payroll, the IntraHealth-led CapacityPlus project was there to help. The process revealed nearly 10,000 ghost workers—individuals who receive salaries but don’t work—whose salaries made up about 30% of the ministry’s budget. The resulting payroll cleanup led to savings of over $6 million annually, which are now being used to improve the country’s health services.
Now over three quarters of women tested for HIV in hospitals supported by CapacityPlus receive their results the same day (compared to just over half the previous year); the number of pregnant women who know their HIV status in those hospitals is up 15%, and the number of family planning, prenatal, postpartum, and laboratory visits has jumped 517% in one region.
USAID named this partnership among its top ten cases of health systems strengthening in 2014.
