Medicare Health Foundation

About

Medicare Health Foundation’s aim is to transform lives through modifying the healthcare system for the impoverished communities of Pakistan.  Registered as a nonprofit organization in Pakistan under Section 42 of the Companies Ordinance 1984, they aspire to establish a network of medical facilities across the country providing high quality treatment to the poor at affordable cost, through secondary care Hospitals and primary care Mother and Child Healthcare units (MCH). 

With an emphasis on Mother and Child healthcare, they have defined their slogan as ‘ensuring safe birth’. They are working towards paving the way for Pakistan to address the pressing challenge of curbing maternal and infant mortality in its financially burdened populations. Having started out in the year 2005 on a small scale in Lahore with the establishment of their first medical facility, Medicare Health Foundation Hospital – Badami Bagh, we have since continued to expand their facilities and hope to spread into diverse areas of Pakistan.  

By increasing accessibility to healthcare for the underprivileged communities of Lahore, they strive to make a positive impact in their lives.  

Medical Facilities

1. Medicare Hospital – Badami Bagh

Medicare Health Foundation Hospital – Badami Bagh is their first project, established in the year 2004. It is a 30 bedded hospital, equipped with an Operation Theatre, Labour Room, Patient Wards, Neonatal Nursery, Pathology Laboratory, Dental Clinic, and Out Patient Clinics. 

Primarily focus on ensuring safe birth, obstetrics and gynecological care are the main in-patient services provided. The out-patient department (OPD)care,  available for both males and females belonging to any age group, includes general medicine, antenatal care, immunization and vaccination, dental clinic, dermatology, ENT, Laboratory, X-Ray and Ultrasound. 

The hospital offers good quality treatment at rates affordable by the poverty stricken population of the area. Those who are unable to pay are offered partially or completely free of cost care, depending on their financial ability. 

2. Noor Medicare Hospital

This hospital, being their most recent addition, was donated to us in 2016 as a run-down and underused facility, with medical services which were limited in scope and the facility operated for a short duration daily. After major renovation and reconstruction, the hospital was inaugurated by us in April this year. Since the inauguration, they have striven to provide high quality treatment by taking on board qualified doctors and support staff, ensuring high standards of maintenance and using modern equipment. They have taken on board specialist doctors, including Gynecologists, Dentists, a Cardiologist and a Pediatrician. The average daily patient flow of the hospital is approximately 500, and we will shortly be commencing their in-patient service of Normal Deliveries, C-Sections, Gynecological and General Surgeries.  

3. Mother and Child Healthcare centre (MCH)- Shadbagh

Funded collaboratively by Netherlands Embassy Islamabad and Medicare Health Foundation, their first Mother and Child Healthcare unit (MCH) became operational in 2016. This facility, aimed at reaching out further within the underprivileged community, is a two-bedded normal delivery centre established to displace unskilled birth practices and improve maternal health. Functioning under the close supervision of Medicare Health Foundation Hospital – Badami Bagh, this facility has one doctor supported by a small team of trained nurses, certified to conduct normal deliveries. In case of complications, the patient is referred to nearby Medicare Health Foundation Hospital – Badami Bagh to ensure safe birth.

Community Goodwill Projects

1. Free Medical Camps

To ensure the good health of the community, they regularly organize free medical camps whereby specialist doctors examine patients and provide further guidance  .

2. Free Vaccination

In collaboration with the Punjab Government, they now run an EPI Centre (Expanded Program for Immunization), where children from ages 0-5 are vaccinated free of cost against 7 deadly diseases, as categorized by the World Health Organization (WHO), which has designed the EPI Program.Furthermore, in collaboration with Rotary International, Medicare Health Foundation regularly organizes polio vaccination campaigns.  

3. Nutritional Programs

Their volunteers from Netherlands, the certified midwives sent through PUM (a Netherlands based Skill Development Program), advised us to develop a nutritional program for mal-nourished expecting mothers. This program would help these women avoid birth complications, and have healthy babies. Now, they regularly run their ‘Mother Nutricare Program’ at Medicare Health Foundation Hospital Badami Bagh, in which they provide many of their antenatal patients with eggs, milk and essential vitamin supplements two times every week,  till they give birth.

4. Educational Programs

Every June, they organize a Summer School on their Medicare Health Foundation Hospital – Badami Bagh premises, which the children of the area are encouraged to join. During the sessions, the children are taught to think critically and expand their general knowledge. Outdoor activities are also organized, such as trips to the zoo, playgrounds and gardens.

For young girls in Badami Bagh – Lahore, they organize a stitching school called ‘Zargali’ (translated as lane to prosperity). Here, they are taught the art of stitching and embroidery from trained seamstresses. Materials and equipment are provided to the girls free of cost, and they are paid through the sale of their work at various exhibitions and events.