State gets first nod for public health insurance
Black hospital group says it’s willing to be a partner
THE FIRST black-owned private hospital group has become the first to raise its hand in public support of the call for private hospitals to open their doors to the public.
Speaking at the announcement of the R230 million facelift and name change of Clinix Lesedi Private Hospital to Dr Solomon Kgokgophana Matseke Memorial Hospital yesterday, Clinix Health Group board chairman Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba voiced support for the national and provincial health departments’ strategy.
“We contend that the challenges facing South Africa are bigger than the public sector working alone and are also certainly bigger than the private sector working in isolation. What we do need is a collaborative approach, an approach that leverages the strengths of each of the streams we’ve managed to build in South Africa,” said Ntsaluba.
He cautioned that the complexity of the challenges the sectors would face in trying to build this partnership, where private hospitals would treat the overflow of patients from government hospitals, with the government paying for the service, shouldn’t be underestimated.
Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu had said the 16 000 beds at state hospitals were not enough to treat the province’s 12 million people.
Ntsaluba said: “It (the partnership) requires us to think rationally, to focus on what matters most and, more importantly, it requires us to open the lines of communication and dialogue between the government and the private sector.
“For this initiative to be sustainable will require for us to find a delicate balance between two imperatives whose relationship is not always harmonious – affordability of what we construct and commercial viability.
“We welcome the initiative and stand ready to engage in a very constructive manner as we see the investment we are making today as a significant contribution towards the achievement of that noble national goal.”
The family of the late Matseke yesterday spoke of how much the renowned teacher who founded Orlando West High School – also affectionately called Matseke – meant to them and the community. His daughter Ellen Matseke described him as a meticulous man who was the “epitome of a hard worker”.
“My father believed in the philosophy of ‘keep on keeping on’. He would be so honoured today to have the hospital renamed after him. His legacy will live on in a community he loved,” Ellen said.
Once renovations are completed, the hospital will be stateof-the-art with 275 beds, and will include seven operating theatres, a 20-bed intensive care unit facility, a 14-bed neonatal facility, a seven-bed paediatric ICU and an 11-bed maternity ward.
Along with that, there is a new radiology department, casualty, pharmacy, pathology laboratory, new renal facilities, a nuclear medicine department as well as new doctors’ rooms, administration, kitchen and reception areas.
Meanwhile, DA MPL Jack Bloom said yesterday Mahlangu had given the go-ahead for construction of 13 new private hospitals with 1 304 beds in Gauteng.
This was revealed in a written reply to his questions in the legislature. The new beds will bring the total number to more than 16 000. “Any spare capacity could be used to assist public patients as recently mooted by MEC Mahlangu,” Bloom said.