Gradian Health Systems, National Innovation Center Nepal, and America Nepal Medical Foundation Establish Critical Care Partnership

Gradian Health Systems, the National Innovation Center Nepal (NIC), and the America Nepal Medical Foundation (ANMF) are proud to announce a partnership to strengthen critical care services at nine hospitals across Nepal starting with the distribution of 50 Gradian CCVs (Comprehensive Care Ventilators) as well as robust provider training and biomedical technical support services.

The partnership builds upon the longstanding presence of the three organizations in Nepal and leverages the expertise of each—Gradian in high-quality medical technology, ANMF in clinical practice, and NIC in innovation and biomedical engineering—to ensure healthcare providers are supported with the knowledge and ongoing support to offer advanced mechanical ventilation to patients.

The ventilators will be distributed to zonal, regional, and teaching hospitals as well as two central hospitals in Kathmandu, including Bir Hospital and Civil Hospital. Gradian CCVs provides mechanical ventilation in a wide variety of settings including those with unreliable access to oxygen and/or electricity, are built to ventilate adult and pediatric patients with up to 21 hours of battery power, and can connect to nearly all available oxygen sources including oxygen concentrators. The Gradian CCV also fulfills or exceeds most of the essential specifications recommended by the World Health Organization for ICU, transport, and sub-acute ventilators for COVID-19 care and has been selected for inclusion in the forthcoming 2021 WHO Compendium of Innovative Health Technologies for Low-Resource Settings.

“This partnership is designed to responsibly and sustainably expand access and strengthen critical care capacity across the country, and we are honored to join a complementary partnership that combines the power of technology, training, and technical support to better support providers and patients,” said Gradian Health Systems CEO Lina Sayed.

NIC engineers and technicians will serve as the lead for ventilator installations, biomedical training, and ongoing technical support, with Gradian’s assistance, to ensure a robust support system is available to clinical providers and facility technicians to ensure optimal machine functioning.

“We are thankful to Gradian Health Systems for these 50 ventilators. More importantly, we are humbled with the responsibility given to the National Innovation Center, Nepal. I am certain, this is just the beginning. As this collaboration matures, it has a potential to benefit Nepal in the long term,” said Mahabir Pun, Chairman of NIC.

In addition, ANMF will serve as a clinical partner to Gradian and our network of clinical trainers and fund the cost to provide comprehensive product and clinical refresher training to physicians and nurses. Trainings will be done on site as well as supported through Gradian’s online training school.

“With the help from its member physicians specialized in critical care medicine, ANMF will provide much needed training to maximally utilize them in the ICUs. We would like to thank Gradian Health Systems for providing crucial equipment to help save lives in Nepal,” said ANMF President Dr Bhupesh Khadka.

The partnership is also being praised by members of the government and the medical community across Nepal for what it could mean for healthcare providers and patients.

“This support strengthens the critical care services in intensive care and high-dependency units. It expands the scope of the treatment in a wide spectrum of patients beyond the COVID-19 crisis, both in children and adults throughout Nepal,” according to Dr. Navindra Raj Bista, General Secretary of the Society of Anaesthesiologists of Nepal.

“These ventilators will be used to treat the sickest of the patients and they will be useful not only during this crisis but also beyond. Thank you, Gradian, NIC, and ANMF for this collaboration,” said Professor Bhagawan Koirala, MD, and chairman of the Nepal Medical Council.

“As Nepal is in a very difficult situation due to the high demand of ICU beds and ventilators caused by the second wave of the COVID-19 surge, this help will be instrumental for saving the lives [of people] who need critical care. I also thank the America Nepal Medical Foundation for supporting the training needs for these ventilators in Nepal. I believe that this support will help to strengthen our critical care health system.” Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada, H.E. Ambassador of Nepal to the United States.

Lastly, the partnership—which materialized within a span of days—also highlights the power of connection and mutual collaboration during a time of crisis.

“I am still mesmerized that this is actually happening and heartwarming to know these ventilators are on their way to Nepal,” said Dr. Santosh Sapkota, who is an NIC advisor, member of the board of directors of ANMF, and led the coordination effort. “What started as a LinkedIn post a few weeks ago developed into this monumental breakthrough. We all know what those ventilators mean during these critical times. The series of events that took place to make this a reality also shows an act of kindness from the individuals to the giving culture of the organization.”

Gradian Health Systems (www.gradianhealth.org)

Gradian Health Systems is a nonprofit medical technology company that works to transform the impact of anesthesia and critical care medical equipment in low-resource hospitals around the world. With a business model that blends sales and grant revenue to sustain operations, Gradian distributes world-class medical devices, provides local, hands-on training, and delivers robust customer support to minimize downtime and maximize impact. Gradian works in partnership with governments, distributors, universities, hospitals, and NGOs to build capacity in anesthesia, critical care, and biomedical engineering alongside the introduction of its three products: the Gradian CCV, the Gradian UAM (Universal Anesthesia Machine), and the Gradian C-AM.

National Center of Innovation, Nepal (www.https://nicnepal.org)

National Innovation Center Nepal is a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing the culture of research, technology, and innovation in Nepal. NIC Nepal provides a unique platform to help retain and foster innovative, talented, and passionate human capital of Nepal and leverage their intellect and creativity in strengthening the country’s social and economic growth through inspired intellect and persistent effort.

America Nepal Medical Foundation (www.anmf.org)

The America Nepal Medical Foundation is committed to advancing healthcare in Nepal by means of research, advocacy, training, education, and infrastructure development. Through its members, who are highly trained professionals from different aspects of  medicine to information technology and management, ANMF is able to support activities in Nepal to set up medical training programs, telemedicine, public health initiatives, as well as aid in construction of healthcare infrastructures like oxygen plants, ICUs, mental health rehabilitation units, health posts, and advocate for best practices in medicine. ANMF also has a strong legacy of supporting disaster relief programs in Nepal.

Photo Credit: Kalle Kortelainen