The Nick Simons Institute is a Nepal-based organization whose mission is to innovate solutions in rural healthcare –through training and hospital support– and to advocate for their scale up with the government of Nepal. The country's mountainous terrain and poverty pose immense barriers to the provision of medical care for people living in remote communities. More than half of Nepal's rural districts don't have basic emergency services, including operations.

NSI works according to the following principles:

• Collaborate closely with the Nepal government – the main rural healthcare provider.
• Select strategic training cadres – which involves 'task-shifting' from traditional medical roles.
• Extend beyond training – to include workplace support and advocacy.
• Innovate – based on a growing body of research in the Nepal context.

NSI was established in 2006 in the memory of Nick Simons, a young man from America who worked in Nepal, grew to love the country, and died in 2003. The organization is governed by the Executive Committee of distinguished Nepalese professionals.

NSI's values are:

• Share and care
• Excellence
• Integrity, and
• Respect for the Individual