GE Healthcare and Access Bank support Nigeria’s Healthcare Providers

&NewLine;<p> Access Bank Plc&comma; a leading full-service commercial Bank operating through a network of 592 branches and service outlets&comma; spanning three continents&comma; 12 countries and 29 million customers and GE Healthcare  are to provide sustainable healthcare equipment financing to private healthcare providers&semi; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The partnership will help the private healthcare providers to deliver access to affordable healthcare services&comma; stated a statement by Apo Group&comma; made available to OpenLife on July 26&period; <br> <br> In the statement&comma; GE Healthcare&comma; a leading provider of medical imaging&comma; monitoring and Access Bank Nigeria have entered into a partnership to provide Nigeria’s Private Healthcare Providers with equipment financing&period; Under the partnership&comma; borrowers will be able to secure loans of up to &dollar;800&comma;000 negotiable&comma; based on the customer requirement&period; <br> <br> Access Bank will provide access to loans for eligible healthcare providers&comma; while GE Healthcare will support the program through provision of GE healthcare equipment and technical support&period; The equipment under the partnership scope include Imaging Solutions including Magnetic Resonance Imaging &lpar;MRI&rpar; and Computed Tomography &lpar;CT&rpar;&comma; Ultrasound Machines and Life Care Solutions&period; Borrowers which qualify for loans include private healthcare providers such as hospitals&comma; clinics&comma; diagnostic centres and other private practices offering a broad array of services&period;<br> <br> Speaking at the signing ceremony&comma; Mr&period; Eyong Ebai&comma; General Manager for GE Healthcare West&comma; Central &amp&semi; French Sub-Saharan Africa said&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We are committed to invest in Public and Private Partnerships that innovate new delivery models that will improve access to affordable and quality patient outcomes&comma; as we progress towards Universal Healthcare Coverage &lpar;UHC&rpar; in Nigeria&period; Our partnership with Access Bank will help lift the financial burden off the healthcare providers&period;”<br> <br> Earlier this year&comma; GE Healthcare rolled out a similar initiative in Kenya&comma; in partnership with Medical Credit Fund to provide Small and Medium Enterprises &lpar;SMES&rpar; with financing for healthcare equipment&period;<br> <br> &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;There is a need to provide innovative financing models for healthcare providers especially in the private sector&comma; who currently face challenges accessing financing for purchase of healthcare equipment due to the risk associated with the business&period; As a financing institution&comma; we are committed to provide financing at both the health-service-provider level and at health-service-consumer levels to ensure that the people of Nigeria have all they need to live healthy lives&period;” Said Mr&period; Herbert Wigwe&comma; CEO Access Bank&period;<br> <br> Access Bank was earlier this year recognized&comma; for the second time&comma; as the &OpenCurlyQuote;Outstanding Healthcare SME-Friendly Bank of the Year’ at the Nigerian Healthcare Excellence Award &lpar;NHEA&rpar; 2019&period;<br> <br> The need to provide affordable healthcare in Nigeria is key to the development of the Nigerian Healthcare sector&period; Even as the World Health Organisation has identified UHC as a unifying concept and goal for the Government as they strengthen their health systems and discharge their obligations under the right to health&period; GE Healthcare and Access bank scheme was therefore born out of the necessity to provide the needed support to the Nigerian Healthcare environs&comma; by providing healthcare finance at affordable rates and longer tenor&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;