The John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation and the Non-profit Greek Shipowners’ Social Welfare Company “SYN-ENOSIS” presented today the results of the “Collaborating for Health” Programme, whose goal is to upgrade the infrastructures and improve the services of health care providers in Greece. They also announced its continuation for the year 2019.

This joint initiative was presented as part of the inauguration ceremony for the new coronary angiography system of the Haemodynamic Department of Interventional Cardiology of the General Hospital of Athens “Sismanoglio-Amalia Flemig”. The donation in question, through which an estimated 3,125 interventional procedures will take place annually (an estimated increase of ~25%), is included in the first round of implementation of the “Collaborating for Health” initiative.

The following donations, co-financed by the two organisations, have also been scheduled for 2018:

• A donation of gastroenterology endoscopy equipment, with the aim of upgrading the Gastroenterology Department of the “Evangelismos” Athens General Hospital,
• A donation of two treatment beds with pressure sore prevention mattresses and electronic scales, and a plasmapheresis and continuous flow centrifugation machine, with the aim of upgrading the Cardiac Arrest Unit of the “Athens Naval Hospital”,
• A donation of medical equipment, in collaboration with the “Pediatric Trauma Care” organisation, to the General Hospital of Filiates, with the aim of improving the care provided to hospitalised children, and of equipment to the Health Centre of Paxoi, for its pediatric clinic.

For the year 2019, the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation and the Non-profit Greek Shipowners’ Social Welfare Company “SYN-ENOSIS” announced the continuation of the “Collaborating for Health” Programme, through a public call for funding for small- and medium-scale projects. The projects pertain to the supply of medical equipment and/or the upgrade of infrastructures, with the aim of responding to urgent needs in the area of Public Health.

The public call is addressed to public health service providers (hospitals and health centres), as well as non-profit organisations, active in the health sector in Greece.

The Programme will make donations in kind, co-financed by the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation and the Non-profit Greek Shipowners’ Social Welfare Company “SYN-ENOSIS”. The donations fall under the following categories: a) small-scale donations of up to fifty thousand euro (€50,000) per donation; and b) medium-scale donations of up to one hundred and fifty thousand euro (€150,000) per donation.

Mr. Athanasios Bousios, Executive Consultant of the Non-profit Greek Shipowners’ Social Welfare Company SYN-ENOSIS, said of the Programme:

“The continuation of this joint initiative that began in 2018 by the the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation and the Non-profit Greek Shipowners’ Social Welfare Company SYN-ENOSIS, and the open call announced today, demonstrate our commitment to actively contributing to the collective effort to upgrade the health services in Greece. The Greek Shipping community has always supported our country, and, through SYN-ENOSIS, the social welfare organisation of the Union of Greek Shipowners, it implements grants of wider interest, with the focus on critical areas such as Health, which today’s donation comes under”.

Mr. Dimitris Afendoulis, Secretary of the Executive Board to the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, added:

“Our experience over the last few years has highlighted the importance and the multiplier effect of small- and medium-size donations in the area of public health. The “Collaborating for Health” Programme focuses on precisely that gap in funding, in the hope of providing solutions, in a coordinated way, which will improve the everyday experience of patients, doctors and nursing staff”. 

The full text of the public call for participation in the “Collaborating for Health” Programme is available on the funders’ websites (www.latsis-foundation.org and www.syn-enosis.gr). The deadline for the submission of applications is Friday, April 5, 2019, and the results will be announced on Friday, June 14, 2019, on the websites and social media accounts of the Programme’s funders.

For more information, interested organisations may contact the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation and SYN-ENOSIS, at the following email addresses and telephone numbers:

1. John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation: [email protected].

2. Non-profit Greek Shipowners’ Social Welfare Company SYN-ENOSIS: [email protected], 210-4291300.