Arba Minch General Hospital is a public hospital located in Arba Minch town, Ethiopia. It is one of the general hospitals in SNNPR region of Gamo Zone. It has a bed capacity for 200 patients. History His Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie founded Arba Minch Hospital on December 7, 1961, Ethiopian calendar. The then Governor Dejazmach Aemro Selassie Abebe selected a suitable place for construction of the hospital to serve the population from the two sub-cities. The Ethiopian Ministry of Health, Angelina Roberto and Kebede Mulat General Contractors made a contractual agreement to build the hospital. The Ministry of Health requested the Norwegian Lutheran Mission (NLM) to manage the hospital after the establishment. Accordingly, the hospital started its work in 1965 with two Medical doctors, three Nurses and nine health assistants. The first medical doctor of the hospital was the Icelandic national called Dr Johannes Olafsson, who worked in Ethiopia from 1960 to 1980. Arba Minch hospital has introduced the first sonography machine in 1977, which was also the first for the country. The machine was introduced by a Norwegian medical doctor named Torvid Kiserude, who has worked in Arba Minch hospital for 8 years. The NLM's role in managing the hospital was over in 1990 when the Ethiopian nationals replaced the foreigners. Since then, the focus of the NLM changed to training medical specialists in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, construction of training centres and provision of medical equipment. In 1991 the mission helped in the establishment of intravenous fluid production centre. Arba Minch General Hospital is the only hospital serving a population of 200,747 people per year in Gamo and other nearby zones. According to an Ethiopian health system model, a general hospital should serve 1-1.5 million population with an average of 234 staffs. Even though it is named as a general hospital it is functioning as a referral hospital with the number of staffs and several services it is providing. Departments/ services The hospital has over 200 beds (7,11) with a total of 410 workers. Among these, 251 are health professionals, and 159 are administrative staffs. The hospital provides preventive, curative and rehabilitative services for Gamo and nearby zones. Collaborations The hospital has been collaborating with local and international organizations. In the early days, the hospital collaborated with the Catholic mission and the Gamo-Gofa Province women's association on the construction of the “Mothers’ Village”. This was a place where