Free medical screening at Showcase

The prestigious 2025 Showcase at Vodafone Arena in Suva is undoubtedly the biggest event of its kind in the entire country with over 500,000 people crossing the gates to the spectacular display of goods, services, entertainment and food.

While this magnificent event has always been a hive of activity since its inception, the presence of Fiji's largest state-of-the-art 130-bed specialty private hospital has added yet another dimension to the entire atmosphere.

Since the first day on Friday, June 20, the highly trained medical and healthcare staff of Pacific Specialist Healthcare (PSH Hospitals) have been manning their booth number B10 with an influx of hundreds of health-conscious members of the public taking advantage of free medical screening procedures on offer at the site.

PSH Hospitals’ director clinical services Dr Sanson Fousaga says the response received since day one has been nothing short of overwhelming.

He said with Fiji having one of the highest rates of non-communicable (NCDs) and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) it was always important for world-class healthcare and medical services providers like PSH Hospitals to reach out to the community as part of their corporate social responsibility during such events.

"I take this opportunity to invite all patrons who will be coming over to the Showcase with their family members and friends to come and meet us and get a few essential checks done for absolutely no charges," Dr Fousaga said.

"Our goal is simple, to bring health awareness directly to the community," Dr Fousaga added.

He said such free public screenings are quick but powerful tools that help identify early signs of common health issues like hypertension, diabetes, and other risk factors that often go unnoticed.

Meanwhile, the Showcase has also provided an excellent platform for potential patients to be identified for assistance under the newly established PSH Foundation – the charity arm of PSH Hospitals focusing on providing free or heavily subsidized complex medical procedures to people who are dubbed as the “poorest of the poor” and are not able to afford treatments.

Since the official launching of PSH Foundation on Thursday, May 22, one heart patient of Nawaka in Nadi has already benefited from a heavily subsidized quadruple graft heart bypass surgery known as Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG).

Just after week after launching PSH Foundation which was officiated by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Strategic Planning, National Development and Statistics Honourable Professor Biman Chand Prasad in the presence of a large number

of guests from all cross-sections of the community, internationally acclaimed and award-winning cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon Dr Sanjeev Kumar Khulbey delivered the PSH Foundation promise by carrying out the CABG procedure on the 67-year-old patient, Satya Narayan on Thursday, May 29.

Mr Narayan was subsequently discharged from hospital after five-day of the surgery after being given all the clearance from the highly trained specialist cardiac team which is based on a 24/7 standby call at PSH Hospitals in Nadi.

“We are now on the verge of finalizing the papers of our first I-Taukei patient who needs a Valve Replacement Surgery (VRS) to treat him for Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD). Fiji has the highest cases of RHDs in the world as per latest statistics released,” PSH Hospitals' founder and chief executive officer Parvish Kumar informed.

“The PSH Foundation is a planned charitable initiative by Pacific Specialist Healthcare (PSH Hospitals) to extend our world-class medical services and healthcare, including open-heart surgery, to deserving patients in Fiji and the Pacific Islands,” Mr Kumar added.

“In order to identify suitable and deserving candidates (patients) in Fiji and the Pacific, PSH Hospitals has teamed up with various faith-based and community organizations in Fiji such as the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC), Fiji Muslim League, Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji and Shree Sanatan Dharm Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji to start with while we endeavour to engage more such organisations and are open to talks to include TISI Sangam, Andhra Sangam, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Maunatul Islam Association of Fiji, Sikh Association of Fiji, ISKCON and many others in the near future so every community and every citizen is covered with the wide network of the PSH Foundation across the country and the greater Pacific community.

“As for our Pacific Island communities, we have invited representatives of Pacific Heads of Health (PHoH) – a group of key Ministry of Health officials and high office bearers from across the Pacific healthcare system to nominate names of their representatives into our PSH Board and that is work in progress as we speak. A high-powered delegation of PHoH also took a tour of our Nadi premises recently as you may have read in the local and Pacific media streams and in our very own monthly newspaper the Patient Pulse,” Mr Kumar said.

END…