On Saturday 9 June 2018, an additional three patients from George Provincial Hospital will benefit from the collaborative surgeries between Mediclinic and the public health sector. Last week nine young patients benefitted from tonsillectomy and grommet surgery as part of a series of collaborations between Mediclinic and provincial health departments across the country.

The urology procedures will be undertaken at Mediclinic George by local urologist Dr Johan Bahlmann, who will be assisted by Dr Grant Trollip (urologist) and Dr Gwen Morgan-Hobson (anaesthetist). These surgeries are of a complex nature with two transurethral surgeries to remove tumours followed by a kidney stone removal procedure. Surgeries aim to assist provincial hospitals with their waiting lists for key procedures through shared capacity and expertise from the private sector. Because of the nature of the surgeries, the radiology practice at Mediclinic George, WE Scribante and Partners, will also provide the services of a radiographer and their equipment pro bono.

Next month additional urology surgeries will be performed as part of the ongoing collaboration between Dr Mark Kent (urologist) and Dr George Peach (anaesthetist). Patients for each event are selected by the provincial hospital from public sector waiting lists and then referred to the specialists involved in the surgeries.

Kassie Karstens, Hospital General Manager of Mediclinic George and Mediclinic Geneva, is delighted with the results of the previous week’s surgeries, “We are very happy to be included in this initiative. The feedback from our community in support of our efforts has been heart-warming and encouraging. Extending the care we are delivering to patients on waiting lists of our neighbouring provincial hospital is an opportunity we could not miss. We are honoured to be changing the lives of these patients.”

He adds, “We would like to thank our doctors, anaesthetists as well as nursing staff for sharing their expertise and time. One cannot underestimate the impact of these collaborations over the longer term.” The Mediclinic surgical facilities, nursing staff and services from Mediclinic associated doctors, are provided free of charge in a collaboration with the local public-sector hospital.

Last week, Michael Vonk, Chief Executive Officer of George Hospital was present to meet the initial patients before surgery and expressed his appreciation of the partnership. “I wish to thank Mediclinic for extending the collaborative surgeries programme to the patients of George Provincial Hospital. The collaboration with Mediclinic allows us to reap the benefits of access to the additional capacity available in Mediclinic surgical facilities and the talent of the surgeons practicing in their hospitals, while also being able to alleviate the number of urology and ENT patients on the public waiting list.”

The CSI collaboration is part of the current national roll-out of pro bono surgeries by Mediclinic and it is envisioned that an additional 100 surgeries will be undertaken over the current financial year to build on the more than 100 patients attended to in 2017. The third set of surgeries will be performed in early July at Mediclinic George and Mediclinic Geneva.