mothers coming from different woreda (district) and awrajas (Zones) stay and get treatment for 1 birr per day until they deliver their baby. The village was completed in 1979, began functioning in 1980 and transferred to the hospital from women's association in 1983. In addition, the Norwegian Lutheran Mission (NLM) has been involved in the construction of wards since 1979. The wards built by the NLM include Medical ward (E ward) having 14 beds. They also added the ward for mothers and children (C ward). Then, they built the children's ward in 1985. The NLM also built a water tank to alleviate the water shortage problem in 1982. Due to this project, there is an uninterrupted water supply in the hospital until now. Another Norwegian organization, called Ethiopia Fund , was involved in the expansion of maternity service. This project was managed by Professor Bernt Lindtjørn, a Norwegian medical doctor from NLM. The maternity unit has a capacity of 80 beds for prenatal, postnatal, delivery services and to treat fistula patients. The hospital also collaborates with a local non-governmental rehabilitation centre which employs 240 minimally trained community health workers whose main duty is to bring disabled patients to the centre The organization known as CBM (Christoffel-Blindenmission) was supporting the eye clinic since 1977. CBM in association with Ethiopian Lion's club also built another building for the eye clinic. An integrated laboratory and outpatient department was built in February 2012 by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). A recent collaboration was made between a European non-governmental organization called DNDi (Drug for Neglected Diseases initiative), Addis Ababa University, the Ministry of Health and Arabaminch hospital to establish Leishmaniasis examination and treatment centre. This project was funded by the Swiss foundation. There was also a project grant obtained from UNICEF and Irish Aid for the establishment of neonatal clinic and capacity building for the staff. The hospital has been working in collaboration with Arba Minch University. It serves as a place of practice for students of the college of medicine and health sciences. The medical interns, general practitioners and specialists employed by the university also work in the hospital and serve the community. Research There are numerous researches conducted with different themes in Arba Minch hospital over the years. These research findings have been giving important information for local and national policymakers. They also serve as a reference for similar research