Saving lives is the name of the game at Ribumed Medical Care

Healthcare should not be about enriching oneself, but about saving lives.

This was the central message delivered at the opening of Ribumed Medical Care in Ballito last Friday.

Situated at the Odyssey Mall, the medical facility comes with a behavioural centre, renal care unit, doctors suite, radiology, pathology and oncology centre.

Guest speaker, Gift Of The Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, emphasised the importance of putting patients before profits.

“As much as money is needed, it should not always be about the money. We need to look after people’s needs. For me, a simple thank you from a patient whose life was saved is much more important than making money,” said Sooliman.

He stressed that across the board the fee structures of specialists and doctors needed to be revised and medical aid schemes needed to lower their rates so that more people could afford medical aid, resulting in fewer people having to rely on public hospitals.

“This can be done, but we need to change the way we think,” said Sooliman.

Dr Ramesh Bhoola emphasised that at Ribumed they did things differently by not only giving their doctors employment, but also shares.

“We really cannot have business people running hospitals, because to them it will always be about profit. By including young doctors in the management of the hospital, it means the hospital cannot simply discard them,” said Bhoola.

Asked whether Ribumed would be opening a child care unit following the impending partial closure of the paediatric facilities at Netcare Alberlito, he said that if they could obtain a licence they would be more then prepared to do so.

“We have got space and money. All we need is the license,” said Bhoola.

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