Hospital gets a new look
The Kalafong Hospital in Atteridgeville, Pretoria now has a new reception and trauma unit.
A promise made last year August by South Africa Medical and Education (Same) Foundation has finally come true for Kalafong Hospital in Atteridgeville, Pretoria. The hospital now has a new reception and trauma unit. The Same Foundation noticed that the hospital needed a revamp, as it is a tertiary hospital and catered for about two million people last year and decided to change the situation at the hospital.
Same Foundation is a NPO based in both the Western Cape and Gauteng and their sole mandate is to create equal health care, no matter what the situation in life. The foundation does this by supplying their hospitals and clinics with the equipment and infrastructure they need to treat communities using their state facilities. “A major problem with Kalafong Hospital was the accident and emergency unit that was too small to handle the patient load. The hospital has had a 34% increase in patients over the last ten years,” the foundation mentioned.
The R6 million trauma unit and reception, is another completed project by the foundation, a national NPO specialising in healthcare and education. The project is entirely corporate funded and major sponsors of the project are Truworths, Adcock Ingram, Rand Water Foundation and Nedbank.
Nedbank donated R400 000, this contribution brings Nedbank’s investment towards the upgrading of hospitals in Gauteng to R1.2 million after the bank donated R414 000 and R400 000 towards Leratong Hospital in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Kone Gugushe, divisional executive for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Nedbank, said the new unit will assist by easing the pressure on the staff and patients taken into the trauma ward.
The changes that were made at the unit are infrastructure and equipment. The trauma unit and reception has been completely redesigned, renovated and is fully equipped with the latest lifesaving technology with all medical staff being trained to use it. Gauteng MEC for health, Qedani Mahlangu, officially opened the new reception and trauma unit on Thursday, 16 July. The unit was operational by Mandela Day.
