An eye hospital transforms lives by restoring sight every day. But managing one is a challenging, sometimes overwhelming task. Now, imagine trying to do it in an isolated, rural part of the developing world! Where would you find administrative staff? How would you train them to use databases or manage payroll? How would you attract patients who can afford to pay for their care so that you can remain financially above-water? These are some of the critical questions that Seva’s partners have to answer as they work to provide safe long-term eye care to their communities sustainably.

Luckily, thanks to the support of donors like you, Seva and UC Berkeley have been able to help!

For almost ten years, we have partnered with the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley to help keep eye hospitals running. The International Business Development Program (IBD) connects Seva partner eye hospitals with Haas’s dynamic and creative minds to help solve real-world business problems. IBD students spend an estimated 900 hours on each consulting project, all at a fraction of a private management firm’s cost.

Already this year, your support enabled five Haas students to work with Siliguri Greater Lions Eye Hospital in India. The team helped the hospital improve its PR and outreach efforts, allowing the hospital to attract and retain more paying patients. They also worked with every department in the hospital to formulate a patient feedback system to gauge satisfaction scientifically and analytically. While the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible for the team to directly visit the hospital, they could perform their work admirably over the internet.

Thank you so much for helping these hospitals improve their business practices! Now, they can provide sustainable, life-changing eye care to vulnerable, under-served people worldwide in a more efficient manner.