The object of the pilot is to explore the possibility of delivering a health care service that meets the needs of a rural population and wherein the community has the capacity to support the services they so desire. The cooperative model practiced by pcH requires that ALL members be financially invested shareholders.  pcH-established cooperatives  understand the  concept of mobilizing resources and the benefits to them. Hence, members are very receptive to contributing additional funds to their cooperative to purchase land (for example) or for other cooperative-driven ventures. We anticipate this will hold true for health services.

The pilot, now its third year, focusses on eight pcH-related cooperatives in the Fon Batis area representing about 2,200 cooperative members.  To date  approximately 500 families have registered in the pilot at an annual fee of 4,300 GDE (or about $45 USD) Services presently include basic health care, a full pharmacy and lab services. The pilot also incorporates innovative telehealth technology such as the Butterfly iQ. The pilot is expected to demonstrate that agricultural cooperatives that practice the Seven Principles of Cooperative and whose members have had access to literacy have the greatest potential to support a health service system that meets their needs. It seeks to establish a service system to ensure the consistent delivery of services with the anticipation that such a model can be replicated when the above conditions are in place.

Plans are presently in the works to include an OB/GYN unit.