AI’s explosive growth offers African health systems previously unheard of chances to enhance patient outcomes, yet most hospitals still have fundamental issues that prevent safe and efficient deployment. Based on lessons acquired from digital health deployment, health worker capacity evaluations, and transformation programs throughout East Africa, this presentation offers a useful, conscious framework for directing AI readiness in African hospitals. Digital infrastructure, clinical process digitalization, and health worker competence are the three readiness pillars that the framework incorporates. It also presents a maturity model that helps hospitals evaluate their existing state and choose concrete steps toward implementing AI. Using real-world examples from telemedicine integration, DHIS2 adoption, BLIS rollout, and early AI experiments, the presentation will show how preparedness gaps have a direct impact on patient outcomes, treatment and sustainability. In the end, the framework provides hospital administrators and innovators in digital health with a road map for advancing from basic digitization to rich, safe, and equitable clinical AI adoption in Africa.