New Westbury Clinic opens
THERE was excitement and relief as the residents of Westbury awaited the opening of the community’s new and improved clinic yesterday.
The clinic will provide medical services to around 550 000 people in and around Westbury, including Newclare, Auckland Park, Brixton, Westdene and several informal settlements.
Lorraine Thinnies said the new clinic meant a lot to her and the community. “In the past we had to travel far to get medical help, now we have one that’s five minutes away from my house.
“I just hope we will get good service and the right medication. I have faith, and trust that they will help us,” she said.
Another resident, pastor Ralph Johnson said that with the new clinic he also hoped for better health education. “We have a big drug problem here and I hope the medical staff will make our community aware of the dangers of drug abuse and smoking.
“It’s a big day for us; the community has been looking forward to it because it will greatly benefit our people,” he said.
“My prayer is that this new clinic will drastically change things here. It’s events like this that unite our people and make our community stronger,” Johnson added.
Some residents said that in the past they would have to get up at 5am and queue at the old clinic or travel far and queue for many hours.
“This won’t happen anymore. The people will be looked after now,” said Shereen Marince.
The clinic has 18 consul- tation rooms, a rehydration room for dehydrated patients, a “chill room” for the youth, consulting rooms for social workers and an isolation room.
“It’s a big improvement on the previous clinic,” said one nurse, who asked to remain anonymous.
“We were seeing hundreds of patients a day and we only had a few consultation rooms and no emergency room. Sometimes we had to use a consultation room as an emergency room, so we’d lose a room, which would worsen the backlog,” she explained.
“Now we have 18 consultation rooms and a place to treat emergencies. It’s a huge relief and I’m grateful,” the nurse said.
The Region B Choir, a group of nurses and medical practi- tioners, entertained the crowd, who danced and applauded.
Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba told Westbury residents he understood that the community “has many social ills, but the Westbury Clinic must be seen as a beacon to show that anything can be achieved”.
“I believe that the clinics are well placed to play a crucial role in the delivery of healthcare services at the point of need, especially in our poor communities. All our clinics have a range of primary healthcare.”
Mashaba said he was aware of the difficult problems faced by the community. “Druglords and gangs terrorise the streets of Westbury.
“I am tired of drug dealers destroying our communities and our youth,” he said.
He said they would be cracking down on druglords, referring to a new K9 narcotics unit that was launched last month.
“I’m especially proud to hand over this modern facility to the residents of Westbury and Joburg in time for the festive season.
“May this clinic reflect a new dawn in access to quality healthcare for this community and may it also represent an era of change and progress for the community of Westbury and the surrounding areas,” Mashaba concluded.
In her address, MMC for health and social development Dr Mpho Phalatse said: “People of Westbury, this your clinic. Take ownership of it, take care if it and protect it.”