The MEC for Health, Qedani Mahlangu announced the provincial government’s decision to take over Alex Clinic.
The clinic, which is an NPO, is the main referral facility for residents and local clinics as well as Edenvale Hospital which is a short distance away. Hospital management recently expressed concern about the increase in the number of patients due to migration to the area.
The clinic’s chief executive officer Labane Maluleke welcomed the news and said the board had been requesting the takeover for the past three years for financial reasons and to ensure it received an uninterrupted supply of medicines and other requirements for its operational efficiency. Currently, it receives a partial government grant to augment donor funding, which is never a guarantee. He said they awaited details on logistical, legal, management and administrative arrangements for the takeover.
“Also, we will engage stakeholders for their opinion on the way forward,” he said.
Mahlangu said the takeover will commence in April and includes upgrading the clinic to offer additional services expected of all government hospitals, depending on space availability; and an increase in the number of beds in order to stop patients sleeping on the floor while waiting for treatment. The facility would also benefit from a relationship between government and private medical facilities to improve the provision of universal health coverage, ensuring quality care and shorter patient queues.
He added that the takeover coincided with the City’s construction of another clinic in Riverpark to ease congestion at other clinics. The clinic would, with other clinics, be a base for providing home-based health care for the chronically ill, helping them to avoid queuing for medicine.
Mahlangu urged residents to assist this health sector development by adopting good hygiene practices in order to reduce illnesses which could have been avoided.
“With its historical significance, Alex deserved to be clean – good health practices will reduce the infestation of rats and other vermin.” He also asked residents to desist from violence and reckless driving which resulted in injured people clogging health facilities and competing with really sick people for medical attention.
