More than 25 years of experience in public-private partnership in the field of healthcare

His Majesty King Mohammed VI, who was Heir to the Throne at that time, presided over the official opening of Hopital des Specialites de Rabat in 1983.
The hospital was managed as a public institution under Ibn Sina University Hospital (CHIS), with legal personality and financial autonomy. It was a model hospital where the specialties for the treatment of head pathologies were available (neurology, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, neuroradiology, neurophysiology, neuropathology, and intensive care), along with modern equipment (the first CT scan in Morocco and digital angiography, and other cutting-edge equipment, were set up in that hospital).

Unfortunately, administrative processes of public management are known to be slow. These processes, along with governmental budget limitations, have led to many obstacles towards maintenance and renewal of biomedical equipment used at the hospital, but mostly in continuing medical education and research for the benefit of doctors and technical staff who wish to develop even more technology in neurosciences.

It is in this context that Hassan II Foundation for the Prevention and Cure of Nervous System Diseases was set up on February 13, 1989 by a group of sponsors and doctors from Hopital des Specialites. The aim through this was to bring to the hospital an additional source of funds, with a smoother mode of private management governed by Dahir from 1958 pertaining to associations.
The setup of this foundation was secondary to the High Benediction of His Late Majesty King Hassan II May He rest in peace. The Foundation was recognized as promoting public interest through Decree approved by the Prime Minister, on July 31, 1989.

The Foundation was set up inside the premises of a public institution (University Hospital Center of Rabat). It mainly aims at improving the conditions for a better management of patients. The majority of its founding members are doctors working within this public institution. Obviously, the activity of the Foundation had to make its way towards a partnership (public-private) with the University Hospital Center of Rabat, and the Ministry of Health. However, at that time (beginning of the 1990s), this type of partnership was not well-known in Morocco, and public authorities were not so keen on supporting it.

Picture of the founding members of Hassan II Foundation for the Prevention and Cure of Nervous System Diseases, on February 13, 1989, attending the constituent general meeting.

The management of the Foundation led this public-private partnership towards three fields, knowing the importance and the need for this partnership in the field of healthcare, and also because it aimed at gaining the trust and support from healthcare administration. The three fields are as follows: prevention and healthcare education pertaining to nervous system diseases; continuing medical education, and purchase of needed equipment at the UHC. Therefore, four great projects linked to this public-private partnership were set up since the Foundation was born in 1989 (up to 2017).