Grameen Healthcare Services – Eye Hospital

Our next visit was right next door at the eye care clinic. The facilities they had were quite impressive. Everything was spotless and clean, and they equipment was the same as what you would see in North America or anywhere else in the developed world.

The Grameen Healthcare Services Hospital

They mostly provide cataract surgeries at the hospital to the poor who live in the region around the hospital. They have several locations where they have a travelling camp on a regular basis. Nurses and DMFs (Physician Assistants) travel to villages and advertise and assess whether or not people need surgery.

Most of the patients from these villages are poor and therefore they do not pay for their surgeries. They will have everything provided free of charge, including transportation and accommodation for two nights while they are at the hospital. In the past this has been one of the major limitations of providing healthcare to poor rural areas – they cannot afford to get to the cities where the services are provided.

Nurses at the Hospital

Despite offering free services to the poorest patients, they still do cover all of their costs by charging other patients for surgeries. We thought this would mean that it would be more expensive for wealthier patients. The manager of the hospital said that it was actually still cheaper for these people to get their surgeries done here than somewhere else. Once again though, their limitation of the number of surgeries was a lack of patients, which seems like another massive failure of Grameen marketing.

Alfonso found out he needs glasses

The hospital had 4 doctors, who rotated working days at the hospital. Presumably the other days of the week they are working in Dhaka or another city. This is another major limitation for rural health provision. Grameen Kalyan provides rural health insurance and basic health provision to the borrowers of the Grameen Bank. Their main limitation was an inability to attract doctors to practice in the rural areas. Despite offering twice the salary and a free motorcycle it was still hard to get doctors.

I think this hospital has some deal worked out with a hospital in Dhaka or some other city where they get a doctor for the day. Then the next day a different doctor is sent. This way no one doctor is forced to endure the quiet, picturesque, relatively pollution free countryside for more than a day or two at one time! And they don't have to pay the salary of a full time doctor, which helps them save costs. 

It was difficult to see how they are able to cut costs so much without sacrificing quality, but hopefully back in Dhaka I can take a look at their balance sheets and income statements to find out more. 

Cheers,

Mike