Mandela Day was not only about giving back to the community. At Busamed Lowveld Private Hospital lives were changed.

On July 18, in honour of Mandela Day, the Universal Care team at the hospital initiated a new campaign in which community members, who were in need of surgeries or on long state hospital waiting lists, could apply for surgeries, free of charge.

The team reviewed the cases and selected 67 patients to achieve their goal of performing 67 procedures in July, most of them on this celebratory day.

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The Universal Care team is the brainchild of Busamed’s CEO, Dr Dumani Kula, and was initiated to assist communities who do not have access to quality healthcare.

The team contributed to 30 circumcision procedures to assist young boys who were in need of safe surgery, and provided free wellness screenings to educate them.

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Dr Edrich Engelbrecht, an ophthalmologist, performed a Pterygium eye surgery for a patient in need. The other unsung heroes who volunteered to assist with the surgeries included anaesthetists, nursing staff, allied professionals and hospital teams.

The employees also had the opportunity to volunteer, whether within their professional roles, or in support activities such as admissions, patient transport, catering, housekeeping or hosting families.

Soekie Dierks, the hospital manager, volunteered to help clean surgical instruments and shared that it was fun to learn new things.

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The initiative taught staff and medical specialists to have respect for one another’s positions.

The Busamed team will also hold a cataract week in October. They will remove cataracts, pro bono, for a group of selected patients in honour of Eye Care Awareness Month.