It is confirmed, Clinix Phalaborwa is closing down.

A few weeks ago, rumours of the hospital closing down left the entire town with questions and concerns.

After being sent from pillar to post by the management of the hospital in regards to what is really happening at the hospital, if it is in actual fact closing down, what will happen to patients and the staff currently employed there?

The staff at the hospital have been retrenched and only nine patients are under the care of the hospital; the rest have been transferred to different hospitals. Injured on duty patients have been transferred to Nelspruit which is two hours away.

Clinix Health Group and Phalaborwa Health Group established Clinix Phalaborwa Private Hospital in 2010.

According to a circular sent to the staff at the hospital from the Deputy CEO of Clinix Health Group Dr Dumani Kula, which we received from a reliable source, Phalaborwa Private Hospital entered into a 15 year Public Private Partnership agreement with the Limpopo Provincial Government, through the Department of Health and Social Welfare.

The intended objectives of the partnership as outlined in the circular were as follows: Phalaborwa Private Hospital would finance the refurbishment of the 62-bed Phalaborwa hospital and Clinix Health Group on behalf of Phalaborwa Private Hospital would operate the hospital as a private hospital, as well as be responsible for the maintenance of the facility.

Phalaborwa Private Hospital was also to assist the government with some of their major challenges and backlogs, including the provision of services by specialists, intensive care, high care and neonatal ICU services which where necessary.

The circular further states that engagements over the last six years between Limpopo Provincial Department and Phalaborwa Private Hospital to render services to the patients at the government hospital never materialised and as a result, PPH has never been able to have enough meaningful occupancy levels to be selfsustaining.

A reliable source also informed us that the CEO of Clinix has other Clinix in Johannesburg which they are building and renovating. Medical personnel was transferred to other areas, “Our physician, Dr Mgaza was taken to another clinic.

They knew this hospital was closing down, they just chose not to tell us because Dr Mgaza went to Naledi Clinix in December, from the 15th of December to date we have not had a physician.” “What we would like as the community is for this hospital to operate, not because we are desperate for jobs- people were getting help from this hospital.

Department of Health is quiet, they are not responding.” “The community of Phalaborwa must now suffer, pregnant mothers are in danger.

If you deliver a baby and there are complications there is no gynaecologist, and the baby dies. Here at Clinix we had specialists, high care, ICU, neonatal… The time taken to transfer them to other hospitals such as Letaba or Van Velden is long because Maputha Malatji does not have all the facilities. “We have mines here- what happens when a serious accident happens? Maputha Malatji is too small to accommodate the whole of Phalaborwa.”

The doors of Clinix Phalaborwa were officially closed on Tuesday, February 28.

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