Improved health services for residents
He promised extended operating hours and better services for all.
The days of having to take a day’s unpaid leave to visit the local clinic for healthcare came to an end with the launch of extended clinic hours on 31 October.
The Executive Mayor for the City of Johannesburg, councillor Herman Mashaba, promised in his campaign leading up to the local elections that he would improve the clinic and health services in Princess. He promised extended operating hours and better services for all.
After he was elected as the new Mayor, he did not forget his promise and the process to get the clinic ready for the proposed changes was set in motion. The upgrades and changes were discussed in a meeting and once approved the work began in earnest about a month ago.
The launch of extended clinic hours is the mayor’s pilot project and he was very pleased to be able to attend the proceedings. “It gives me great pleasure to be here at the launch of extended operating hours for the Princess Clinic in Roodepoort – a pilot project I believe is bound to go a long way in providing improved health services for the majority of our poor communities at their doorstep. It is also the realisation of one of the commitments in my ten point plan, which I announced soon after taking office,” Mashaba said.
The proceedings were also attended by the Member of the Mayoral Cimmittee (MMC) for Health and Social Development, Doctor Mpho Phalatse. She said she was very pleased that the launch of the promised extended hours could take place. “I am very emotional and hope I will be able to get through my speech,” she said. She also encouraged community members to take ownership of this project and communicate their success stories, as well as their challenges, with this project to the Government. “The Government cannot do anything without the help of the community,” she said.
The extended hours for the clinic are effective from 1 November. The new operating hours will be from 7am to 10pm from Monday to Friday and from 7am to 1.30pm on Saturdays. There will also be a dedicated social worker at the clinic from Monday to Friday from 11am to 7pm. The social workers will focus on community development and mobilisation through health workshops and local drug action meetings.
Mashaba concluded, saying, “The residents of Princess are forever etched in my heart and they should never have to suffer such indignity and deprivation of basic rights. Our health is vital to our success. If our residents are healthy, they are able to work, earn a living and contribute to the growth of our economy.”
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