Background

In the initial steps to expand government higher education institutions to various regional cities, one of the first establishments was the Dilla Teachers Education Health Science College, founded in 1989 Ethiopian Calander (EC) in the Gedo Zone of the Southern Region, just outside Dilla city. Shortly thereafter, it merged with Wondo Genet Forest tree and Natural Resource College, as well as Hawassa Agricultural College, to form Debub University.

Dilla Teachers Education Health Science College comprised two faculties. The Faculty of Health Science trained junior health professionals, such as nurses, laboratory technicians, and environmental health care professionals, awarding diplomas and degrees to health professionals.

At that time, the college managed its own operations but lacked a hospital for training students in existing programs and the new medical education program being developed. As the current Comprehensive Specialized Hospital was under construction, the Faculty of Health took over this facility and relocated it to Hawassa city in 1996 EC. Consequently, it ceased to operate as a Faculty of Health and evolved into a College, introducing a new program to train medical students. Following the transfer of the Faculty of Health Sciences to Hawassa, the institution previously known as Southern University was re-established as Hawassa University in 1998 EC.

After implementing significant changes in its operational procedures, Hawassa University renamed the College of Health Sciences to the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, reorganizing its departments accordingly. Currently, the college offers 12 undergraduate programs, 17 postgraduate programs, 10 specialty programs, 1 sub-specialty program, and 1 Ph.D. program, serving a total of 2,644 students across 41 programs and producing qualified professionals to support the government's transformation plan.

The Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, established for educational purposes by the college, has been providing medical and counseling services to patients from the region and neighboring areas since its inception in 1998 EC. In 2016 EC alone, it delivered a total of 147,973 medical services across all fields. The college is making great efforts to meet community needs by continuously improving service delivery and implementing new procedures. Currently, the college employed over 2,442 staff members, including over 470 academic professionals, with 24% of the teaching staff being women.