Alvaro Salas is a physician, former President of the Caja del Seguro Social and member of the Board of Directors of CAHI. He holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, as well as studies in Health Services Administration and Planning at the University of Leeds.
He also teaches relevant content during the first module of the CAHI Fellows program, which was precisely the context of the interview.
Your journey with CAHI is extensive, from the origin of the organization, how has it been from the beginning to the present?
Álvaro: My first contact with CAHI was through its founder and current president of the board of directors, Robert Jeffe, who traveled to Costa Rica in a process of identifying allies and potential candidates to start the program. What he proposed to me was the project of training human resources with the best tools for health project management. So I started to get involved and I was part of that initial group with which we began to see the possibilities, to visualize everything that could be done, priority areas for projects in Central America. Already at that time we realized that the challenge would be great and we began to have clarity about the profile of leaders required to address these challenges in the area of health.
Thus we advanced towards the first generation of CAHI Fellows, which from the beginning was a mixed group, combining the presence of NGOs, community groups, as well as physicians, directors of health centers, nursing staff. I remember from these early years many special projects, such as one in El Salvador that consisted in the development of a bracelet that, with different colored pieces, served as a reminder to renal patients to maintain care habits: a little white ball to avoid salt, two little blue balls for water consumption, and so on; a project of great creativity.
This process of evolution has brought us to this sixth generation of social leaders, and our vision is that new leaders join us every year, because without a doubt, at CAHI we are contributing to the development of creative ideas that improve people's quality of life. There are already more than 100 members in the CAHI Fellows network.
In your role as a teacher in the CAHI Fellows Program, what value do you bring to the groups?
Álvaro: The program is focused on the management of healthcare projects, so it has elements such as innovation, leadership, management, etc. Today I am here to address the topic of health systems in Central America, to offer the CAHI Fellows a perspective and a base that will allow them to continue researching and looking for more information, to give context to their projects, to generate a dialogue that will allow us to understand the situation in each country.
My intention is that they can better focus on the connection of their projects with prevention, rehabilitation and disease care processes; this way they will know better where to place themselves, what their priorities would be, or confirm what they are already developing. Today we will be working on the social and economic context, as well as on the origin of the economic systems of your countries.
The idea is to empower these leaders, so that with their resources they can carry out relevant projects. We have examples to show them, projects of CAHI Fellows from other generations, which we expose to motivate them and make them perceive all the potential there is here.
How do you perceive CAHI's working model?
Álvaro: I feel that CAHI has become a group of close people who share a vision. Those of us who are on the Board of Directors see each other frequently, we are constantly communicating with each other to stay aligned and to promote the organization and the CAHI Fellows. I think it is a wise decision to work with young people with significant projects and such a high management capacity. I learn with them and I also feel part of this regional network, it is the contact with them that keeps us up to date on what is happening in each country, on the progress of the projects, the connections that are being made between them. CAHI is an extraordinary organization with a vision in constant renewal.
