Gallery
GEORGE NEWS - The managers of Mediclinic George and Geneva and the George Provincial Hospital are excited about a project to provide surgery for state patients. Nine patients undergoing treatment at the George Provincial Hospital received life-changing surgery on Saturday 2 June as part of the second phase of collaborative surgeries between Mediclinic and the public health sector.
Over the last ten years Mediclinic has successfully partnered with various provincial health departments across the country to to help broaden access to quality healthcare for all South Africans, while alleviating the burden of long public surgery waiting lists.
Click here for a photo gallery.
More than 100 public patients underwent surgery at various Mediclinic hospitals in 2017. Between September and December last year, the first round of PPI procedures were carried out at a number Mediclinic hospitals in the Western Cape, Limpopo and Free Sate, either by doctors associated with Mediclinic or from the public sector. Operations included cataract, urology and tympanoplasty (eardrum repair) procedures.
Local effort
Mediclinic George and Mediclinic Geneva are the next hospitals to offer these surgeries, including ear, nose and throat (ENT) and urology procedures, to patients from the George Provincial Hospital.
The first nine procedures were undertaken on a pro-bono basis at Mediclinic George hospital by respected ENT surgeon Dr Tienie van Niekerk, alongside anaesthetist Dr Sandy Gush. The surgeries include tonsillectomies and grommets for young patients on the state's waiting list.
In the second phase over the next few weeks, a number of patients will undergo urological procedures with urologists Dr Johan Bahlmann and Dr Mark Kent, with the anaesthetists, Dr Gwen Morgan-Hobson and Dr George Peach, providing their services pro bono as part of the initiative.
The Public Private Initiatives (PPI) have proved highly successful and the intention is to roll out a further 100 surgeries over the next year. The Mediclinic surgical facilities, nursing staff and expertise from Mediclinic associated doctors are provided free of charge in a collaboration with the local public-sector hospital.
Two-year-old Jade De Bruyn is accompanied by his mom as he is wheeled into surgery by Mediclinic nurses.
This CSI collaboration is part of the current national roll-out of pro bono surgeries by Mediclinic and is a continuation of the strong relationships built between the private and public sector during 2017.
Taking hands
Kassie Karstens, general manager of Mediclinic George and Geneva, is excited to be involved in this opportunity. "To provide long-awaited surgery for patients may appear to be a simple gesture," he says, "but the difference these procedures can make in the patients' lives should never be underestimated. We would like to thank our doctors, anaesthetists as well as nursing staff for the work that will be done over the next few weeks."
Michael Vonk, chief executive officer at the George hospital thanks Mediclinic for extending the collaborative surgeries programme to the patients of George Provincial Hospital.
"We believe that the partnership is about building on and strengthening the working relationship between private and public hospitals and working together to change the lives of our people," he says.
"The collaboration with Mediclinic allows us to reap the benefits of access to the additional capacity available in Mediclinic surgical facilities and the talent of the surgeons practising in their hospitals, while also being able to alleviate the number of urology and ENT patients on the public waiting list."
Hospital General Manager Kassie Karstens pictured with 12 year-old Rajesh Saayman who was scheduled for both a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.
Lwazi Mankahla, CSI manager for Mediclinic Southern Africa, says Mediclinic is proud to do their bit to alleviate the public surgical waiting lists due to the severe shortage of doctors and nurses in the country. "It is critical for all players in healthcare to play their part, private and public alike. With our involvement in Public Private Initiatives, we have the opportunity to add collaborative value beyond our traditional patient base."
'We bring you the latest George, Garden Route news'
