Grameen Healthcare to work with Kaiser Foundation

3 June 2010, 18:00 PM

Metro Desk

Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus shakes hands with Chairman and CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan George C Halvorson during a meeting at the Grameen Bank Bhaban in the city. Photo: Yunus Centre

Grameen Healthcare Trust and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. USA will work jointly to develop a healthcare system in the country to provide quality healthcare for the poor in an affordable way. Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus, chairman of Grameen Healthcare, and George C Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Foundation, reached an agreement to this end following two days of discussions in the city this week, said a press release. Kaiser Foundation is part of Kaiser Permanente, a major healthcare provider in the USA with $42 billion in annual revenue. It works with employers, employees and individual members to offer prepaid health plans and insurance. It has 14,000 doctors, 160,000 employees and 8.6 million members who receive total healthcare. Prof Yunus briefed Halvorson on the preparations for setting up of a 350-bed Grameen Heart Hospital in Dhaka jointly with Dr Devi Shetty's Narayana Hrudalayala Hospitals of Bangalore, India. Dr Sandeep Attawar of Narayana Hrudalayala came from India to participate in the discussion with Halvorson. Prof Yunus also briefed him on the progress of setting up of Grameen Cancer Hospital jointly with Medical Radiation Centre of Miami, Florida. All these hospitals will be components of various other health initiatives, including a University of Health Sciences.