2007 Annual Report - Vhi
2007 Annual Report - Vhi
2007 Annual Report - Vhi
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24 <strong>Vhi</strong> Healthcare <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> and Accounts <strong>2007</strong><br />
the 2006 Irish Times <strong>Vhi</strong> Healthcare Sportswoman of the Year Awards aimed<br />
at highlighting the achievements of Ireland’s most prominent sportswomen.<br />
Podcasts: In July we launched Ireland’s first health podcast – <strong>Vhi</strong> HealthClub.<br />
Available online from www.vhi.ie and www.podcastingireland.ie this fortnightly<br />
broadcast covers a range of health related topics and can be listened to on a<br />
PC or downloaded onto an MP3 player.<br />
eBusiness: Our website continues to attract large volumes of traffic. With<br />
more than 140,000 registered members <strong>Vhi</strong> Healthcare is by far the most<br />
popular health information website in Ireland. On average the site attracts<br />
330,000 visits per month and we currently have 61,000 subscribers<br />
to our email newsletter.<br />
Market Development: Recognising the rapidly changing demographic trends<br />
in Ireland over recent years <strong>Vhi</strong> Healthcare has worked closely with the Polish<br />
Information and Culture Centre in Dublin to establish a dedicated healthcare<br />
information service within the Centre. <strong>Vhi</strong> Healthcare has employed native<br />
Polish speakers in its Contact Centre in Kilkenny to assist Polish citizens<br />
with their healthcare queries. In addition, we have also established a Polish<br />
webpage www.vhi.ie/polski to assist Polish visitors with online information on<br />
health services in Ireland.<br />
Social Responsibility<br />
<strong>Vhi</strong> Healthcare recognises the importance of nurturing and protecting our<br />
country and community in practical ways and engages in many activities<br />
to ensure this. <strong>Vhi</strong> Healthcare is determined to reduce its impact on the<br />
environment through recycling all of its waste paper, glass, drink cans, print<br />
cartridges, used batteries, redundant equipment and unwanted mobile phones.<br />
During the year <strong>Vhi</strong> Healthcare donated the sum of €85,000 to help fund the<br />
expansion of Crumlin Children’s Hospital Ophthalmology service. The funding<br />
has assisted in the redevelopment of two clinical examination rooms and a<br />
patient waiting area, significantly improving facilities for children with eye<br />
diseases, and their families.<br />
<strong>Vhi</strong> Healthcare employees also raised a total of €14,850 through voluntary<br />
salary deduction, for distribution to almost 40 different registered charities<br />
based nationally and internationally. Other collections which raised money<br />
for different charities included raffles for teddy bears, coffee mornings,<br />
jersey days etc.<br />
For a number of years now <strong>Vhi</strong> has been a supporter of the Junior<br />
Achievement/Young Enterprise Programmes. <strong>Vhi</strong> Healthcare employees<br />
volunteer their free time and expertise to assist primary and secondary<br />
school students identify their own skills and to coach people in a wide variety<br />
of business related disciplines. During 2006/07 <strong>Vhi</strong> Healthcare employees<br />
helped young students from schools based in Dublin (in partnership with IBEC<br />
programme) and Kilkenny to maximise their potential in a number of ways by<br />
providing coaching on subjects as diverse as personal economics, interview<br />
techniques, cv preparation, telephone and customer service skills etc.
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