Diamond Bank Plc, a leading retail bank in Nigeria, has launched a new product, Diamond MediLoan QualityCare, designed to provide loan facilities for improved healthcare delivery in the country. It is a partnership with SafeCare, a medical advisory and standards organization.
The product, recently launched in Lagos, will afford operators of hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, laboratories, diagnostic centres and other medical establishments the opportunity to access loan facility from the Bank to acquire medical equipment, fixed assets and to undertake the renovation and expansion of existing facilities in order to deliver efficient and qualitative service to their clients. The product has four different tiers of financing, ranging from N200,000 to N56 million.
Speaking at the launch, Mr. Uzoma Dozie, Deputy Managing Director, Diamond Bank Plc, noted that the Bank took keen interest in the health sector due to the strategic importance that good health plays in the overall wellbeing of man.
He said: “For any nation to develop, three things are very critical and important; education, health and food. Citizens, particularly the workforce must be educated, healthy and well-fed. If the workforce lacks any of the three, they can’t be competitive and if they are not, the country can’t develop. That’s the reason we are addressing the problem of financing in the health sector. Through this newly launched product, health practitioners would have access to finance to purchase necessary equipment so they could provide affordable and qualitative services.”
Speaking further, Dozie noted that the country loses millions of dollars annually to foreign countries with better healthcare facilities through medical tourism. He argued that this unwholesome trend would be addressed with the new product.
”Health statistics has revealed that Nigeria has estimated 545 maternal deaths per 100,000 births and over 18,000 Nigerians traveled to India in 2013 for medical purposes and spent over N41.6 billion naira. When hospitals in Nigeria have the necessary medical equipment, patients won’t need to travel abroad to seek medical treatment, and in the process lose a lot of money. This new facility will help in this regard and make the services affordable. ” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the partnering organization, SafeCare, Mr. Uzodinma Ken Osisiogu, said his organization would serve as the quality control partner for the programme, adding that SafeCare would ensure both the technical and business competence of applicants before recommending them for the loan.
“The application process would be thorough so that only competent ones would access the loan. The technical aspect is vital as well as the financials. We will look at their record keeping processes also. After securing the loan, we would ensure compliance with terms and insist in delivering the promised quality of service because that is the basis of the loan
“Providing quality healthcare is no longer an option; it is the way to go. It confers a competitive advantage on the provider,” he added.
This facility, which is available in Lagos currently, will be extended to other cities namely Ibadan, Enugu, Awka, Owerri and Umuahia soon.
Picture Caption: (L-R) Dr Tayo Bello, Chairman, Lagos State Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency; Aishah Ahmad, Head, Retail Financial Services, Diamond Bank Plc; Uzoma Dozie, Deputy Managing Director, Dimand Bank Plc; Dr Ngozi Onyia, Non-Executive Director, PharmAcess/Medical Director, Paelon Memorial Clinic, Victoria Island and Jude Aniele, Head, Retail Banking, Diamond Bank Plc at the launch of Diamond MediLoan QualityCare in partnership with SafeCare …in Lagos
