HYGEIA Group: Healthcare Program for the Hellenic Coast Guard
As part of its extensive Corporate Social Responsibility program, and acknowledging the social contribution of the Hellenic Coast Guard, HYGEIA Group has decided to actively contribute to these efforts, by offering free-of-charge healthcare services to all individuals serving in the Hellenic Coast Guard.
As announced during an event that was held at the headquarters of the Hellenic Coast Guard, located within the Ministry for Shipping and the Aegean, on October 8, 2013, HYGEIA Group will be donating a fully-equipped ambulance to the Underwater Missions Unit. It will also provide training to the staff who will be operating the ambulance. HYGEIA Group will further undertake the scheduled and unscheduled maintenance of the vehicle throughout its lifecycle.
Furthermore, the Group will donate 5 Telemedicine Systems to be used on sea craft or remote facilities of the Coast Guard, while it will also offer training to the system operators, which will be performed by HYGEIA’s medical staff. The Telemedicine Systems will transfer medical data in real time to HYGEIA’s Outpatients Clinic. On a 24-hour basis, specialist doctors at HYGEIA will be able to monitor the vital signs of patients, such as heart rate, blood
pressure, oxygen saturation, body temperature and respiratory rate. Moreover, the Systems allow direct communication with HYGEIA doctors, via video and sound, while they also transfer a high-resolution image of the patient to the HYGEIA consultation center, so that each individual incident may be treated accordingly. The use of an automatic defibrillation system for heart attacks shall also be possible.
Additionally, a full check-up will be offered free-of-charge to all the men and women serving in the Coast Guard. The check-ups may be performed either at HYGEIA and MITERA Hospitals or at the diagnostic centers Hygeianet Athens & Hygeianet Peristeri. At the same time, employees will be offered free medical consultations for scheduled appointments as
well as emergencies at the Group’s hospitals and diagnostic centers, through the HYGEIA Group family health card.
The event was attended by the General Secretary of the Greek Cabinet, Mr Panagiotis Baltakos, the Chief of the Coast Guard, Vice-Admiral Dimitrios Bantias, and the Director of the Coast Guard’s Health Department, Captain Nikolaos Sofoulis, all of whom thanked HYGEIA Group for its generous donation.
The Chairman of the HYGEIA Group Board of Directors, Mr Andreas Vgenopoulos, stated:
“Despite the adverse effects of the prolonged macroeconomic recession, the healthy and large businesses of Greece have an obligation to assist the Greek society to the extent possible, as part of their corporate social responsibility. In this light, we at HYGEIA are proud of our Group’s extensive social contribution program, which assists us in covering as many sectors as possible. We are standing by the people who live in remote islands or mountainous regions; people who are facing serious health problems, while being at the mercy of the economic crisis.
Today, we have proceeded with a significant initiative to fulfill the needs of the Hellenic Coast Guard, as well as the men and women who offer their invaluable services to the country and society in general. Through this initiative, we are actively demonstrating that we acknowledge their endeavors and the tremendous efforts they expend daily, under treacherous conditions, while we will try to support them in their valuable mission. We feel fortunate to have been given the opportunity to assist them.”