Sandeep Ahuja came to GPHAP with a mission: to bring medical facilities to the doorsteps of millions of slum dwellers in Delhi, India. Putting his vision into practice didn’t take him long. Within two months of completing GPHAP and graduating from the Harris School of Public Policy in 2006, Sandeep launched a nonprofit organization, Operation ASHA, which has been making a difference in the health and lives of thousands who would otherwise go without medical services.
In August 2006, Operation Asha opened its free community health clinic, where two primary care physicians provide treatment for day-to-day illnesses to 4500 patients each month, free of charge. The cost of an entire treatment is 60 cents per patient, including consultation and medicines. Then Operation ASHA directed its focus to tuberculosis treatment. TB has attained epidemic proportions in India with 2.2 million new cases and 400,000 deaths in 2006. The Indian economy suffers a loss of $3 billion annually on account of the disease. Within a year, Operation Asha has become the largest nonprofit in Delhi in TB treatment with 34 treatment centers that serve 475 patients. It has evolved a new paradigm by taking the treatment to the doorsteps of the poor, which involves the community and reduces costs drastically. The cost of treating each patient is $10. Leveraging existing community resources, Operation Asha has delivered care in an highly cost-effective manner: with a donation of $1, patients receive $35 worth of treatment.
Operation ASHA has a special relationship with Chicago. It is registered as a 501c3 nonprofit organizations. To raise funds, Operation Asha holds a fundraising dinner every year which is organized by an interdisciplinary array of students, including GHPAP, SSA, Harris, GSB, Law and Pritzker Medical School in collaboration with other medical schools in the greater Chicago area. This year, the dinner will be held on February 28 at a downtown location. Visit their website www.opasha.org for details.
Sandeep and Shelly, his colleague, also delivered a course on international health problems at Harris School in February 2008.
Certainly, the success of Project Asha can be attributed to Sandeep's passion, drive and commitment, as well as the partnerships he has formed in Delhi and Chicago. At GPHAP, we're proud to have played a small role in preparing Sandeep to make a difference.
"GHPAP provided me with the tools, expertise and confidence to expand the work that had been going on in Delhi for a decade. The core curriculum provides sufficient depth. The course on financial management is a must for anyone aspiring to a top position. Simultaneously, the electives provide wide choice to tailor the program to one's needs. The faculty is top notch and administration is highly responsive to students' needs and always willing to help. I am happy I enrolled in the GHPAP program."
- Sandeep Ahuja, GPHAP 2006
Kelly graduated in 2007 from the School of Social Service Administration (SSA) with a certificate from GPHAP. Prior to her studies at the University of Chicago, she worked as a health information technology consultant for the Cook County Bureau of Health Services. Her work with the County led her to pursue studies in health care policy and eventually led her to take an internship at OEI.
Recognizing the importance of program efficiency and sound health care policy, Kelly now works for OEI. During her time at OEI she has worked on various studies, including an assessment of Medicaid payments and services to persons affected by hurricane Katrina, a medical record review of facet joint injections, and electronic prescribing in Medicare Part D.
"Health programs and policy are extremely complex due in part to the numerous and disparate interests involved in policy formation. I frequently find myself drawing on knowledge gained from my GPHAP classes, where I experienced the rich interplay between social work, public policy, medicine, business, and the law."
Mara Werner enrolled in her first GPHAP class on a whim. Little did she know that this one class would spark such an interest in healthcare and health policy that she would focus on this through out her time at Harris School and later in her work at HHS. After graduating with an MPP from the Harris School in 2007, Mara started working for OEI.
Mara works on studies which evaluate different aspects of the Medicare program. One study she worked on used Medicare claims data to identify potential medication errors and compare rates of medication areas across different groups of Medicare beneficiaries. She is currently studying variation in Medicare payments for clinical diagnostic lab tests across the country.
Abby graduated with a Master of Public Policy (MPP) degree from the University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy in 2008. While pursing her MPP, she focused on health policy and also earned a certificate GPHAP. Prior to graduate school, she worked at a research and consulting firm conducting evaluations of early care and education, HIV/AIDS, and childhood obesity programs in California.
Abby is currently working at OEI, where she also interned during the summer and throughout the school year. As a team member, Abby conducts evaluations of HHS programs and policies. Some of the topics she has worked on include clinical investigators' financial conflict-of-interest and electronic transmission of Medicare Part D prescription drugs. Her prior work experience and the combination of health administration and research courses she took at Harris and as part of GPHAP provided a foundation for the work she currently does at OEI.