Healthcare made affordable

In a bid to make healthcare accessible to the masses, Fiji’s largest private hospital has drastically reduced GP consultation charges to $7.50 across the board for all Fijians.

Pacific Specialist Healthcare (PSH Hospitals) which is a 130-bed state-of-the-art specialty private hospital situated opposite the Nadi International Airport and at Walu Bay in Suva aims to make healthcare services accessible and affordable at the same time for the general populace.

“We have been getting numerous feedbacks from various sectors of the society through our multi-faceted approach while engaging with community leaders and people of grassroots levels and have therefore decided to further reduce our GP consultation fees from $11.50 to $7.50 for all Fijians,” PSH Hospitals founder and chief executive officer Parvish Kumar said.

He said the new GP rate is a result of thorough discussions with the recently appointed board members which comprises representatives of the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) and various faith-based organisations to make healthcare more accessible to people through further reducing their out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses.

He said a lot of people had the perception that PSH Hospitals has been providing services to a specific group of elite customers only and that was not true.

“We are here for everyone. All our patients irrespective of their financial or cultural backgrounds or status in the society are important to us and we care for them all,” Mr Kumar added.

He said despite making headlines for cutting-edge medical technology and innovation backed with the recent milestone achievements in open-heart surgeries and various other complex procedures like brain tumour surgeries, PSH Hospitals remains equally committed towards primary healthcare in the country.

“Yes, we are a specialty hospital and many of our recent achievements have been unprecedented, but equally care for all patients and primary healthcare services through our highly trained general practitioners is also very important,” Mr Kumar said.

He said patients who require further treatments and specialist care can also make payment arrangements with the hospital under the “get well now, pay later” initiative which PSH Hospitals has rolled out for patients facing financial difficulties.

“At PSH Hospitals, our first priority is to save precious lives.”

Meanwhile, PSH Hospitals Nadi facility is open 24-hours a day and seven-days-a-week for outpatient, inpatient and emergency services.

Private hospital offers free medical service to senior citizens

Fiji’s largest private hospital has gone a step further in assisting the most vulnerable segment of the society by making GP consultations totally free-of-charge for all senior citizens above the age of 65-years.

Pacific Specialist Healthcare (PSH Hospitals) which is a state-of-the-art 130-bed specialty private hospital in Nadi and Suva believes in serving the greater Fijian community by making healthcare accessible to all members of the society.

“After significantly reducing GP consultation charges for all Fijians to $7.50, we have taken one step further by making the services for our senior citizens above the age of 65-years absolutely free,” PSH Hospitals founder and chief executive officer Parvish Kumar said.

Mr Kumar said that he has been receiving a lot of feedback, especially from the senior members of the community and those who have retired with no fixed sources of income to come up with something good for them given the hardship many of them are facing in old age.

“This latest initiative is also in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) to make quality healthcare affordable and accessible to all,” Mr Kumar said.

“This is about making healthcare more accessible by reducing out of pocket expenditure (OOP). Plus, most of the service providers are serving patients under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme with the government as a free service to the members of the public who qualify for assistance,” Mr Kumar added.

“We’re not competing with anyone or with the PPP medical service providers. We still have a fee of $7.50 for all other Fijians under the age of 65-years.”

Meanwhile, apart from the latest initiative of offering free GP consultation services to senior citizens, PSH Hospitals is also reducing baseline studies or diagnostic fees for Electrocardiogram (ECG), Chest X-Ray and Full Blood Count (FBC) with immediate effect.

“This reduction aligns with our already announced reduction in GP consultation fees and together with our excellence in healthcare delivery, we are now the most attractive, affordable and accessible healthcare provider in Fiji,” Mr Kumar said.

He said PSH Hospitals will be also reviewing pharmacy prices and costs of accommodation for patients soon.