Air Pacific partners with Zens Medical Centre to improve air medical services. Photo: WAISEA NASOKIA
By JYOTI PRATIBHA
Air Pacific, soon to be ‘Fiji Airways’, and Zens Medical Centre in Nadi yesterday announced a new partnership aimed at providing Fiji with the nation’s first-ever ‘wellness clinic’.
It is to be named the ‘Fiji Airways Wellness Clinic’. The new clinic, on a referral basis, intends to offer a range of health and wellness checks designed to achieve the goal of early detection and prevention of Fiji’s most common causes of death, namely: heart disease; diabetes; hypertension; and strokes.
Managing Director/Chief Executive Dave Pflieger said: “As Fiji’s national airline, we are committed to improving the lives and well-being of not only our staff, but all Fijians. On behalf of the more than 800 professionals who work at our airline, we are very pleased to be partnering with Zens Medical Centre to address this important issue.
“ The Fiji Airways Wellness Clinic will contribute to a healthier Fiji by making available free wellness and health checks for patients referred by their General Practitioners.”
Clinic support rebranding
“Support for this new clinic is a fitting way to commemorate the rebranding of Fiji’s national airline from Air Pacific to Fiji Airways. In the same way that our airline is soaring to new horizons, by supporting staff wellness programs and early detection, we want to make it possible for all Fijians to soar to new horizons, as well.”
Under the four-year agreement with the Medical Centre, Air Pacific will provide financial support, and Zens Medical Centre (Nadi) will manage the clinic and provide for specialist medical staff, supplies and expertise to perform health check-ups.
“We are proud to partner with Air Pacific in creating Fiji’s first-ever preventive medicine clinic. Most other clinics in Fiji are focused on providing treatments after a lifestyle disease has been diagnosed.
Detection and prevention
“The Fiji Airways Wellness Clinic’s goal, however, is to start a programme of early detection and prevention of these diseases to help patients who are found to be ‘at risk’ with the means to modify their lifestyle through health education, exercise, and diet counselling,” said Dr Zen Low, Director of Zens Medical Centre.
The Fiji Airways Wellness Clinic will also offer, on referral basis, various medical tests and services for other non-communicable diseases to the public free of charge.
Services
These include blood pressure and sugar tests, blood tests, lipid tests, hypertension screening, screening for strokes, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease diagnosis and treatment, including dialysis treatment.
In addition, the airline has also made a one-time donation to help the medical centre pay off one of its dialysis machines.