Launching of the new hospital network

During these difficult times, that Lebanon is going through and especially the health sector, the historical and memorable relationship between the Jesuits and the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts is strengthened through the signing of an agreement that unites Saint Charles Hospital and Mgr. Cortbawi Hospital, at Saint Joseph University in Beirut.

The announcement of the launching of this new hospital network which gathers the two hospitals mentioned at the Hotel-Dieu de France took place on Tuesday August 22, 2022 at 11:00 am at the François S. Bassil Auditorium of the USJ at the Campus of Innovation and Sports in the presence of His Excellency Dr. Firass Abiad, Minister of Health, His Excellency the Apostolic Nuncio to Lebanon Monsignor Joseph Sbeitri, Monsignor Cesar Essayan, Apostolic Vicar of the Latins in Lebanon, Fr. Michael Zammit s.j, the Superior General of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts Mother Bernadete Rouhaiem, the President of the Union of Private Hospitals in Lebanon Sleiman Haroun, the President of the Order of Physicians Professor Joseph Bakhach, Professor Salim Daccache s.j. Rector of Saint Joseph University of Beirut (USJ) and Chairman of the Board of Directors of  Hôtel-Dieu de France (HDF), and Mr. Nassib Nasr Director General of Hôtel-Dieu de France as well as the Boards of Directors of USJ and HDF, Saint Charles Hospital and Bishop Kortbawi Hospital and the medical and administrative directors of the different institutions present and the media.

Mr. Nassib Nasr welcomed the parties present and began his speech by saying: "This memorandum of understanding has undoubtedly a national scope in an increasingly difficult context. A medical project of the two hospitals will be mounted in close collaboration with our medical corps. For the past two months, we have been setting up our governance by appointing a board of directors for both hospitals.

Mother Bernadete Rouhaiem, Superior General of SSCC, added: "We live the same spirituality, we have the same values, we belong to the same church and we are together at the service of all without distinction of religion, nationality or social class. The implementation of a network of hospitals of the Congregation with the USJ is an important step forward, because this network allows us together to better serve the patients and to better protect our lay collaborators".

During his speech, Professor Salim Daccache s.j. spoke about the reasons, efforts and initiatives that resulted in this agreement and recalled the long history of each of these two hospitals, adding, "We know that the hospital sector is in danger of disappearing, we want to participate in the work of saving this sector on new foundations so that it remains the hospital of the P.O. (Near East 2)." He added: "We call on all individuals and institutions to share in this project from within and without because it really needs support through a spirit of solidarity in light of the needs of operation and renewal that are extremely important for our hospitals and reach out," explaining that: "Our intention, and we have begun to translate it into action, is to strengthen, in a regular way, the synergies between the three institutions as well as collaborations, exchanges, transfers, tenders and medical and economic projects, calling for a commitment of our teams from the Hospital and the University to go in this direction in order to build a successful model for our Lebanon, where we operate more in individualities and not in a family and community spirit that can establish common goals and move forward. "

Professor Salim Daccache closed his speech by inviting the parties present to participate in a solidarity gathering at Hôtel-Dieu de France in memory of the August 4 tragedy: "We are two days away from the second commemoration of the  4 of august tragedy, I wish on behalf of our institution to present my condolences to the families who lost their loved ones and to console the injured who are still suffering, by saluting our medical and care teams who saved hundreds of people from death on that fateful night. This is an opportunity for us to invite you to participate with us in a prayer, perseverance, resistance that Hôtel-Dieu de France will organize on the 4th of the month at 6:00 a.m. in front of the Emergency Department.

For his part, the Minister of Health began by talking about the situation of hospitals, which he said is extremely difficult, saying: "The patient currently assumes 80% of the hospital bill and the Ministry is working to reduce this burden on patients through three measures: increasing the ceiling of expenses, questioning the coverage, working with the guarantor parties for the unification of administrative procedures", adding on the new hospital network: "in the Ministry of Health we are committed to the private sector and appreciate this initiative, support it and wish it good luck."