KwaDukuza Private Hospital becomes reality
An operator for the hospital will still be selected.
After eight years of planning, the highly anticipated KwaDukuza Private Hospital vision finally became a reality at the soil turning last Friday morning.
Project Chairman, Dr Lucky Lloyd Ndokweni, said the reason for the long wait was predominantly due to the challenge of getting funding for the multi-million Rand development project and finding the appropriate equity partners.
The operator of the hospital is currently under discussion and is soon to be selected.
The hospital has received funding interest from the KZN Growth Fund (KZNGF) and has successfully partnered with Razorite Health Managers (RHM) as an equity partner. The KZNGF has been instrumental in assisting the KwaDukuza Independent Practitioners Association over the last three years to bring the project to a bankable stage and is in the process of finalising its funding approval.
“The need for a private hospital facility in the area was established when doctors realised that they often struggled, in terms of emergency situations, whereby patients needed to be transferred to the nearest private facilities without delay and getting them there on time was difficult,” said Dr Ndokweni.
The hospital will be located along the R102 (heading towards Melville), close to the KwaDukuza Police Station and North Coast Primary School.
The specified plot, which boasts 60 000 square metres will be utilised to build a single storey, 120 bed, four theatre hospital and also allow room for further expansion in the future.
The hospital construction will be divided into two phases; phase one, which will accommodate 70 beds and three theatres, and phase two, will allow for 50 beds and one theatre, totaling to the particulars as stipulated in the license.
The official opening of the hospital will take place once phase one of construction is complete, which will take between 18-24 months and will be constructed by Liviero.
“This project has been long awaited and it will definitely benefit and serve the community of KwaDukuza. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the executive members who have sacrificed lots of time and effort towards the success of this project including those who were part of and still are contributing towards the KwaDukuza Private Hospital. I want to especially thank the service providers, namely, the KwaDukuza municipality, the Ilembe District, the Stanger Private Hospital Design Consortium, KZNGF, RHM, Garlicke and Bousfield, and Deloitte and Touche. The official site handover will be held soon,” said Dr Ndokweni.
