New office of the Virtual Campus for Public Health in Panama to strengthen the training of the health workforce in the Americas

Washington DC, 18 March 2026 (PAHO)- The Virtual Campus for Public Health (VCPH) of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) inaugurated a new office in Panama, a space to continue strengthening regional capacities for training and technical cooperation for the health workforce.

The new headquarters is located in the Ciudad del Saber and shares facilities with PAHO's Subregional Health Emergencies Office for Central America and the Dominican Republic, as well as with emergency personnel assigned to PAHO's Regional Strategic Reserve in Panama and with the regional team of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). This proximity reinforces the link between human resources training and the response to public health emergencies in the region.

"The Virtual Campus for Public Health has become a strategic tool to strengthen the capacities of the health workforce across the region, facilitating access to quality continuing education and promoting knowledge exchange among countries," said James Fitzgerald, Director of the Department of Health Systems and Services at PAHO.

Gabriel Listovsky, Head of the Special Program of the Virtual Campus for Public Health, highlighted that the new headquarters will help consolidate the platform's growth and expand its impact. "The Virtual Campus connects millions of health professionals in the Americas with accessible learning opportunities tailored to the realities of each country. This new headquarters reinforces our commitment to continue innovating in the training of the health workforce and supporting countries in strengthening their health systems."

Progress in technical cooperation in the country

As part of the technical exchanges held in Panama, James Fitzgerald, together with Ana Rivière, PAHO/WHO Representative in Panama; Leah-Mari Richards, advisor from PAHO's Department of Health Systems and Services in the country; and Gabriel Listovsky, met with Juan Pablo Uribe, Director of the World Bank's Central America and Dominican Republic Division, to discuss opportunities for collaboration to strengthen the capacities of the health workforce in the subregion. The conversation focused on the work of the Virtual Campus in supporting countries in strengthening their national nodes, with Panama among the countries prioritized for this effort.

Meetings were also held with authorities from Panama's Ministry of Health (MINSA) to review progress on the Health Workforce Information System (SIRHS). During the meeting, participants highlighted the importance of having digitized databases for the strategic planning of the health workforce, as well as the need to integrate human resources information with epidemiological and demographic profiles to support decision-making at the national and subnational levels. In this context, PAHO's Virtual Campus was identified as a key platform for institutionalizing continuous training processes for the health workforce.

During the discussions, participants also highlighted how PAHO's technical cooperation and the support of international financial institutions are contributing to advancing structural transformations in the health system, including the reorganization of services around integrated health service delivery networks, the interoperability of electronic health records, and the development of more efficient financing models. The discussions also addressed initiatives to strengthen the monitoring of maternal and perinatal health, including the use of the Perinatal Information System (SIP+), as well as strategies to improve comprehensive adolescent health care, in line with new guidelines and technical tools that PAHO will publish soon.

In addition, the PAHO delegation participated in a meeting with representatives of the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to review progress of the Alliance for Primary Health Care in the Americas in Panama. The dialogue focused on service integration processes between the Ministry of Health (MINSA) and the Social Security Fund (CSS), as well as on challenges and opportunities to strengthen health service management models in the provinces of Herrera and Los Santos.