New oncology hospital to serve Mthatha
Construction of private facility set to commence in next 12 months
A half-a-billion rand private oncology hospital is on the cards for Mthatha and surrounding areas.
The planned hospital, which will have the capacity to admit 150 cancer patients when fully operational, comes after the provincial government agreed to lease more than two hectares of state land belonging to Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital to a Pretoria-based private healthcare company, Selizwe Health.
This is according to confidential documents seen by the Daily Dispatch. Its construction is set to commence “in the next 12 months”.
The planned construction was confirmed on Wednesday by Selizwe Health’s director Dr Percy Mahlathi, who said he had already obtained approval from the provincial health department to construct the facility at a cost of R500m.
The KwaBhaca-born, but Pretoria-based, doctor said construction would commence “within the next 12 months”.
He said more than 1,000 people were expected to be employed during the construction phase and when the specialised facility was fully operational.
Mahlathi was previously the deputy director-general in the national health department.
“One of the challenges the Eastern Cape faces is that there are not too many specialists working for the government that deal with cancer-related services.
“Also, I have noted that many people had to travel to faraway places, such as Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, to a-covernight”. cess private specialists.” Once it was up and running, he hoped to attract scores of Eastern Cape-born doctors who had migrated to other provinces.
Mahlathi said money to construct the hospital would come from private investments, and as such, “it cannot be done “We are now sorting out the issue relating to its location,” he said.
In a confidential letter to the provincial public works department requesting use of the land adjacent to the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital, Mahlathi said “the advantage of this site, besides it being zoned for health purposes already, is that part of our intention is to strengthen the national health system”.
“This will be achieved through our specialists also offering services to both the Walter Sisulu University’s medical school and Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital on a parttime basis.
“They will therefore be available to perform specialist services while also assisting in post-graduate training at the medical school.”
In a letter from then public works HOD advocate James Mlawu, dated May 14, to his counterpart at provincial health Dr Thobile Mbengashe, he said he supported the application to lease the land to Selizwe Health.
He said such a development “will complement the existing hospital and create a health precinct”.
It will complement existing services and create a ‘health precinct’