Income for the medical center comes primarily from donations, private contracts with businesses for employee care, and patient fees. Funding for major equipment purchases and expansion comes mainly from donations. Income from patient fees and business contracts covers the cost of subsidizing care for those patients who require financial assistance.
The center entrance
The clinic charges patients on a sliding scale. Fees are either partially or completely subsidized to ensure that no patient is denied medical care for financial reasons. In the last ten years, the medical center has expanded considerably, with building projects and the acquisition of diagnostic tools and improved treatment options.
Ophthalmology clinic
Main
reception
The board of directors, responsible for managing the center, has six professional volunteers, appointed by the Church Council. The clinic also benefits greatly from the services of a number of doctors who are each involved in full-time practice in other settings. They generously donate a few hours each per week to the clinic, charging patients only a small percentage of the fees that they would charge in their full-time practice. The clinic also has some full-time paid personnel--highly-qualified Christians and Muslims, men and women, who believe in the concept of the project.
The clinic is designed to provide subsidized or free health care to rural low-income Egyptians while promoting good relationships between Muslims and Christians. Therefore, both religious groups are represented among the staff and patients.
Staff:
The Director: Dr. Freddy Elbaiady has been an integral part of the medical center’s work and management since it began in 1996. After finishing his Egyptian training with a specialization in radiology at Ain Shams University and Cairo University, Dr. Elbaiady completed his fellowship at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, and he has also worked in Hoorn, Netherlands. His knowledge of diagnostic tools in radiology is extensive, and he has applied his skills to several fields of medicine, including obstetrics and internal medicine. Dr. Elbaiady is deeply committed to using the clinic to improve the health and welfare of some of Egypt’s poorest people.
Dr. Freddy S. ElBaiady
Staff and volunteers at the Salam Medical center are working to alleviate poverty and ill health in Egypt, while helping to ease tensions among the country’s different religious groups. They come from all sectors of society to work at the clinic and would welcome additional help in their efforts.
