Excitement is building ahead of the opening of the state-of-the-art new 200-bed Netcare Pholoso Hospital in Polokwane on Monday, 21 September. The hospital was developed in partnership between Netcare and Pholoso Hospital Group.
Founder and chairman of Pholoso Hospital Group, Mr Godfrey Phakoago, says that the opening of Netcare Pholoso Hospital represents the culmination of his greatest passions in life; medicine and people. “For me, bringing quality private healthcare services to the people is imperative. Our country is vast and the need for these vital services is especially great in our semi-urban and outlying areas,” he observes.
Jacques du Plessis, managing director of Netcare’s hospital division, notes that Netcare Pholoso Hospital represents a new chapter in healthcare for the province. “With the opening of Netcare Pholoso Hospital, we will be able to better serve the growing needs of the thriving communities in the province.”
Mr Phakoago notes that this vision resonates with Pholoso Hospital Group’s founding values. “Pholoso Hospital Group was founded with the aim of addressing gaps in healthcare provision and extending the reach of medical services to the people of Limpopo. It is also rewarding that, through the establishment of Netcare Pholoso Hospital, skilled healthcare workers who had no choice but to leave the province due to lack of jobs in their field, used the opportunity to return to Limpopo.”
“We have attracted experienced specialists, as well as excellent nursing and support staff to the hospital. We are looking forward to seeing these skills applied in this modern, well-equipped facility to the benefit of the communities we will be serving,” Mr Du Plessis adds.
Hospital general manager, Sydney Masalla, says: “This is an exciting development as Netcare Pholoso Hospital will offer a range of private medical, emergency and allied healthcare services.”
Specialists’ services available at Netcare Pholoso Hospital will include anaesthesiology, cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgery, general surgery, gynaecology, internal medicine and maxillo-facial surgery. Neurology, neurosurgery, obstetrics, oncology, ophthalmalogy, orthopaedic surgery including spinal surgery, paediatrics, paediatric pulmonology, paediatric surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, urology and vascular surgery will also be offered.
The hospital has six theatres, including one with laminar flow technology, one equipped with digital technology, and a dedicated caesarean theatre. The hospital is also equipped with a cardiac catheterisation laboratory and state-of-the-art endoscopic units for scope procedures. Radiology services, including CT scanning will be available, with plans to install an MRI scanner.
Previously, many patients living in the province had to travel to Gauteng for certain hospital procedures, either because the services were not offered in Limpopo or due to insufficient capacity in the private hospitals operating in the province. The costs and considerable inconvenience associated with such an arrangement need no longer be incurred with the opening of Netcare Pholoso Hospital.
The healthcare needs of expectant mothers, babies and children are catered for with an extensive range of services including obstetrics as well as highly specialised paediatric surgery and paediatric pulmonology. The maternity unit has 27 maternity beds in three private rooms and six four-bedded maternity wards, two delivery rooms, a dedicated caesarean section theatre. The hospital also has a 14-bed neonatal intensive care unit and a 30-bed paediatric unit.
Netcare Pholoso Hospital will have one of the largest Netcare Stork’s Nest mother and baby wellness clinics in the country and will offer a comprehensive range of antenatal and postnatal services and support to expectant and new parents.
Specialists practising at the hospital will be supported by allied healthcare practitioners such as physiotherapists, dieticians, podiatrists, orthotists, social workers, audiologists, speech therapists, psychologists and occupational therapists.
The emergency department will be able to receive critically ill or injured patients via helicopter as the hospital has its own landing pad. The emergency department includes five private examination bays, three resuscitation bays and X-ray equipment within the resuscitation area, as well as a Netcare sexual assault centre.
Mr Phakoago and Mr Du Plessis expressed gratitude to all stakeholders for helping to make Netcare Pholoso Hospital a reality. “Our thanks go to the provincial Department of Health, the Polokwane municipality and all the men and women who have worked tirelessly to bring this new state-of-the-art hospital to Polokwane,” they concluded.
Ends
Issued by: Martina Nicholson Associates (MNA) on behalf of Netcare Pholoso Hospital
Contact : Martina Nicholson, Graeme Swinney, Sarah Wilson or Meggan Saville
Telephone: (011) 469 3016
Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]