“A year ago, the Mayor launched the extended hours programme, and now, the programme has been so successful that five more clinics are being launched,” said René Benjamin, councillor for ward 71.
Residents using the Princess Clinic were treated to a day filled with celebration, to commemorate the first anniversary of the launch of the clinic’s extended hours.
The celebrations were done in the form of an open day, and visitors had the opportunity to have free blood pressure checks, HIV and TB tests, and pap smears.
They were entertained by the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department’s (JMPD) brass band, Princess High School’s choir, the Emergency Management Services (EMS) drill squad, as well as the Star of Moses Community Choir.
The Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, councillor Herman Mashaba also attended the celebrations, and said, “It gives me such great pleasure and personal satisfaction to be standing here today, celebrating this project’s first anniversary. I am overjoyed to see something that was only a pipe-dream for me, being realised and prospering. When I first visited Princess Clinic, I had only just taken up office, and did not have a budget to implement the extended hours, but, because of the previous administration’s extensive travelling budget, I was able to move those funds to where they were needed.
This was the pilot project, and it has been so successful that extended hours could be implemented at five other clinics as well.”
He added that the Princess Clinic pilot project entailed extending service hours from the normal eight hours to 15 hours per day, Monday to Friday, and Saturday’s service hours from 7am to 1pm, thus increasing the clinic’s operating hours by a total of 51 hours per week. This has resulted in the Clinic being able to provide healthcare to over 7 000 additional people at the clinic.
“All in all, Princess Clinic has been able to provide healthcare to close to 24 000 residents in the area. These are people who would have been forced to choose between going to work, or finding a job, or taking time off from their studies and getting medical attention. By having this clinic operate for extended hours, I hope we have made a real difference in people’s lives,” he said.
René concluded the day by thanking everyone who had attended, saying, “Thank you to all our special guests who took time out of their busy schedules to join us today. Thank you also to Environmental Health, Health Services, South Africa Against All Rape, Safe and Sound, JMPD and the police. And a special thank you and applause to the staff at the clinic, who passionately and diligently serve the community.”
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