Iranian-Islamic Model of Public-Private Partnership in Hospital Management: Introducing Moheb Hospital Model

Regarding the fiscal constraints and management difficulties of public hospitals, several countries have used public private partnership model to improve their health facilities. Public private partnership enables using public resources and private investment and expertise in a combined structure. Moheb hospital is the first Iranian hospital managed according to public private-partnership. The private wing of this partnership is Moheb Medical Institute which is built upon a combination of previously existing models i.e. the “design, build, finance, and operate” model as well as the co-location model. Since the hospital and all its properties are endowed by Moheb Institute through an Islamic tradition (Vaghf) to all Iranian people (not necessarily government), Moheb model can be introduced as an Iranian-Islamic extension of public-private partnership model. In this model people are also a wing of partnership. Thus, it should actually be considered as a public-private-people partnership. This experience reveals that this model could be an efficient solution to some of the healthcare system difficulties, provided that it is based on a precise plan designed by skillful managers.