About

Haramaya University (HU) is one of Ethiopia’s pioneer higher learning institutions. The university is owned and budgeted by the government. It is located in the eastern part of the country, about 510km east of Addis Ababa, covering 440 hectares. Currently, HU has two campuses, the main campus, which is situated in East Hararghe Zone, close to Haramaya town. The other campus, the College of Health and Medical Sciences, which is 23 kilometers from the main campus located in Harar city; this college has one teaching hospital, i.e., Hiwot Fana Comprehensive Specialized University hospital, Kersa, Harar, and Haramaya demographic health sites surveillance (DHSS), and Child Health and Mortality Surveillance (CHAMPS) Research Laboratory. The College has five Schools (Medicine, Medical Laboratory Science, Pharmacy, Nursing and Midwifery and Public Health), one department (Environmental Health Sciences) and Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital (a mega teaching hospital).  CHMS is among the largest academic units of the university, providing education, research and community services. The college along the hospital is headed by the Chief Executive Director (at the rank of Vice President) and has three directors namely Chief Clinical Director, Chief Academic and Research Director and the Chief Administration and Development Director.

Hiwot Fana Comprehensive Specialized Hospital was established during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1928-1933 E.C) to serve Italian soldiers. It was built mainly to provide medical care for the invading army; however, it continued to deliver health service to millions of Ethiopians living below Awash after the expulsion of Italians from Ethiopia. After downfall of derg, the Hospital was run by Harari Regional Health Bureau (HRHB). On July 14, 2010, HRHB handed over the administration and service provision of the hospital to Haramaya University and named “Hiwot Fana Comprehensive Specialized Hospital” (HFCSH). HFCSH serves as a teaching referral hospital for the entire Eastern part of Ethiopia, including Eastern Oromia, Dire Dawa City Administration, the Somali Regional State and the Harari Regional State. It serves a total of 20 million populations in the catchment area.

After the handover, the university realized that the hospital building and equipment were not sufficient to provide teaching and referral services at the required level, which led to the start of the construction of the new hospital building complex. The new hospital building initially will cost more than 1.6 Billion ETB when complete and will have the capacity to have more than 960 inpatient beds with advanced medical technologies. This remarkable hospital laid on 9000 square meter total plot area and 70,000 square meter floor area. It has a total number of 1400 rooms, maximum of 10 stores, 8 lifts, and 1 ramp (movable stairs). More than 46 health care services will be delivered including nuclear medicine, nephrology, cardiology, surgery, internal medicine, highly sophisticated diagnostic services, teaching accommodations, etc. Currently, more than 85% of the construction work is completed. When the building is complete, it enable citizens in the eastern part of our country to have access to complete modern medical services and it enables the university to produce quality trained and knowledgeable medical professionals.

Currently, the hospital has about 525 beds with 294 functional rooms to offer different services for the community. The hospital is currently delivering different health service to the community. Most; but not all, of the services that are being provided to the community at the hospital include: internal medicine, general surgery, Neurosurgery, pediatric surgery ,Urology, plastic surgery , Orthopedic surgery , gynecology and obstetrics, pediatrics ,Neurology, pediatric cardiology, Neonatal intensive care, Emergency and critical care, TB/HIV services, intensive medical care, dental care, mental health care, reproductive health services, dermatology and venereal disease services, Maternal and child health (MCH) services, ophthalmic care, ENT, Pathology, Oncology, pharmacy and laboratory, endoscopy, ultrasound, x-Ray, ECG and imaging service. The university hospital has planned to expand its specialty and subspecialty services with clinical researches.