President officially opens Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme Memorial Hospital
President Cyril Ramaphosa officially opened the Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme Memorial Hospital on Friday November 24.
The hospital will serve over one million residents in the north of Durban.
President Ramaphosa said the facility had been built in response to the growing pressing healthcare needs of the approximately 1.5 million residents of Kwa-Mashu, Inanda, Ntuzuma and the surrounding communities in northern Durban.
“It will relieve pressure on the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital and Addington Hospital, and will cater for inpatients at a regional level, with referrals from surrounding district level facilities,” said President Ramaphosa.
The president also highlighted that data from the Census 2022 points not just to a growing population but confirms that the vast majority of South Africans rely on the public sector to meet their healthcare needs.
Another report published this month by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) points to the growing healthcare burden of non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic lower respiratory diseases, cancers and others.
“With more people living with non-communicable diseases, it’s essential that healthcare systems respond accordingly at a primary healthcare level. This is particularly in regard to regular screening to ensure timely diagnosis and treatment. This facility will play a critical role in this regard,” President Ramaphosa said.
He said the hospital has an active primary healthcare outreach programme that is bringing much-needed healthcare services closer to the people. The commissioning of the hospital was implemented in a phased approach from August 2021.
First radiology was commissioned, followed by optometry and dermatology, and the migration of Internal Medicine from Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital, he said.
In January this year, the Emergency Department started providing services. Currently all emergency cases in the north of eThekwini are taken directly from the scene, from primary healthcare centres, community healthcare centres and district hospitals.
The facility offers an impressive range of services including critical care, dental, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychological services, dietetics, audiology, social work and many more.
The hospital also has a strong academic and research component and is one of the centre for postgraduate medical training, as well as providing rotation for final-year medical students from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). This hospital is also the first government hospital in the province to adopt an in-sourced model in components such as security, cleaning, laundry and food services.
So far of the 1 513 vacancies post, a total of 1 383 posts have already been filled as of end September 2023. The construction of the facility itself supported job creation and small business development. The president said he had no doubt that the hospital will improve the health outcomes of all the communities it serves.
“I am honoured to be present at the official opening of the hospital and that there can be no more befitting a name for this facility than that of the great Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme. He was lauded as a man who was the moving spirit behind the formation of the African National Congress. He was a committed Pan-Africanist and a humanist, who famously spoke of a brighter day rising upon Africa; and of an Africa whose sons and daughters would one day walk in the light of progress, freedom and equality,” said President Ramaphosa.
He added that the government was moving ahead with the introduction of the National Health Insurance that would further democratise access to healthcare services.
