Maritime healthcare specialist, VIKAND, is helping Mercy Ships’ volunteer crews’ on boarding process by delivering its pre-employment medical examination (PEME) review services and assisting with vaccination requirements.
By engaging VIKAND, Mercy Ships said it will streamline its application process, allowing internal resources to be allocated elsewhere to support its work, while also enhancing healthcare operations and strengthening data security.
Mercy Ships relies on a dedicated volunteer workforce representing over 60 nationalities to staff its two hospital ships, ‘Africa Mercy’ and ’Global Mercy’.
Some volunteer for a few weeks and others for months or even years, meaning that over 200 crew members can be rotating through the vessels each month.
Ensuring their medical fitness is a vital step in enabling the organisation’s mission to deliver free healthcare to some of the poorest countries in the world, the company explained.
VIKAND has previously supported Mercy Ships by providing its standard operating procedures (SOPs) to assist with the on board crew clinics, which provide care to the volunteer crew.
“Having served with Mercy Ships for over 21 years both at sea and ashore, I am excited to have our teams at VIKAND supporting their volunteer crew on boarding process with PEME review solutions,” commented Russ Holmes, VIKAND’s Vice President of Key PartnerSHIPS.
“This support will allow Mercy Ships to reduce risk, provide a seamless application process for their volunteer crew, and allow them to allocate resources elsewhere that otherwise managed this process previously.”
Mercy Ships is the charity of choice for CLIA, Seatrade, MSC, and the MSC Foundation, thus far.
Mercy Ships’ Organisational Project Manager, Chantal Ilae, added: “We are delighted to have the support of VIKAND in strengthening our medical review and vaccination verification process.
“Their expertise will not only ensure a smoother experience for volunteer crew members but also reinforce our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of medical care, data security, and compliance.
“This collaboration allows us to focus more of our resources on delivering free healthcare to those who are in desperate need,” she said.
