For years there has been a glaring need for a medical facility in Hoedspruit. Numerous rumours regarding a hospital in Hoedspruit did their rounds – it should, could, was, was not happening, no money was available, land couldn’t be secured, and so it went on. Well now we have it – the hospital vision is taking shape. It’s coming to town, and this is the developing story!
About six years ago, Pieter Scholtz, Jaco Leicester and Carien Taute, got together to conjure up plans for the building a hospital in Hoedspruit. The magnitude of this undertaking could have eluded them at the time, nonetheless, true grit prevailed and today we have a story to tell.
A substantial investment (on risk) was put into the deal by Pieter and Jacko, and Carien was duly appointed as the local Project Manager.
The first step of the development was to identify land that was zoned for a hospital (hospitals cannot be built anywhere). That land was identified between the Lowveld Academy, the gym and storage. A total of 2ha was bought consisting of eight stands, these obviously had to be consolidated into one.
How big was the hospital going to be?
Urban Econ was contracted to do market research for the hospital, to determine how many medical aid clients there were in a 50km radius around Hoedspruit. The logic in that research, was that 50km was about the extremity of ‘reach’ for a local hospital. Beyond that, the probability was that any person requiring treatment may opt to go elsewhere, like Nelspruit or Tzaneen.
At that stage, around five to six years ago, the results showed that there were approximately 90 000 people on medical aids within a 50km radius of Hoedspruit! That included members and dependents.
Factoring that number in, the equation indicated that a hospital of 170 beds would be viable. But that was clearly too big for the undertaking to start with. After due consideration, it was decided to submit an application to the Department of Health for a 50-bed hospital with two operating theatres.
Another consultant was brought on board to help with the submission of the application for the operating licence. That application was finally submitted in September 2018, but unfortunately a week after submission, the Department of Health in Limpopo put a moratorium on all new private hospitals, because they wanted to do a survey and see what is available in the province.
The department finally lifted the moratorium a year later, and very soon after that the license for the Hoedspruit Private Hospital was granted. To the surprise of many, the department authorised 50 beds and four theatres, as a result a further application has been submitted to increase the bed count to 62. This was considered a reasonable and logical expansion figure.
Licensing and COVID
After the license was granted, the architectural plans had to be submitted, approved, and signed off. That was a six-month process. Running parallel to that process, many locals were approached to find out who might be interested in investing in the hospital. R 100 million was raised in equity and the balance of the funds to complete this project still had to be sourced!
Just as this project was gaining traction COVID 19 reared its ugly head! All applications and processes came to a grinding halt, and although some may have regarded this as a major setback, the investors had faith in the project, and sat tight, waiting for the pandemic to end. That day arrived and save for the licensing the process, everything had to restarted from the very beginning.
It became glaringly obvious that there was a need for a big investor, because apart from the approximately 30 people in and around Hoedspruit that had invested in the project, there was a blatant deficit in the accounts and subsequently the budget. Thankfully Investec Bank saw the potential and came up with the approval of the loan for the major debt on the project.
The project now had financial closure, and an AGM was called on the 27 May 2023, where a Board of Directors were appointed. Earthworks were started on the 7 of June 2023, to flatten and level the site. The project will be managed in a joint venture by Predevcon and Buzz Projects.
The company structure
The hospital structure consists of two companies – a property company (PropCo) and an operational company (OpCo). The property company owns the buildings and the land, and the operational company owns the business, operational license and the equipment in the hospital. Within the operational company, doctors, specialists, and medical personnel hold between 50 and 60 percent of the shareholding. It was always within the vision and an important part of the plan, to ringfence a percentage holding for the medical staff involved. The idea being that the hospital will be a doctor/specialist driven project, although there will be a hospital manager appointed. The ‘medical shareholders’ will always have a say in the medical, and care aspects of the operation.
For a doctor/specialist to ‘qualify’ to hold shares in the hospital, they will have to work in, or for, the hospital. This is a hospital for the community, the idea being that no one should ‘own’ the hospital. Should a doctor/specialist wish to leave then, those shares that are held by him/her, will have to be sold back into the medical shareholding group. It is good to know that quite a few local doctors have already bought shares in the project.
The balance of the shareholding will be taken up by a group (not any one of the bigger ones e.g.: Netcare or Mediclinic) – discussions are still underway to iron out some minor matters before signature, but for all intents and purposes agreement has been reached.
An operational management team will be appointed, and together with the hospital manager will perform the day to day running of the establishment. Effectively the Board of Directors from each of the PropCo and OpCo will oversee everything.
The full facilities
The hospital will be a fully fledged hospital, with four theatres, ICU (4 beds), neonatal ICU (4 beds), dialysis facilities, delivery wards, an Ampath laboratory and a 24/7 emergency unit. There will also be doctor’s rooms and rehabilitation facilities included in the medical precinct.
There will not be a helipad at this stage because of the proximity to Hoedspruit Civil Airfield and the consideration is to secure a helicopter in time, rather than wasting money on a helipad. That may be considered in a phase to follow. The hospital still must become viable before any of these ‘extra’ items are considered.
Agreements have already been concluded with a general surgeon, orthopaedic surgeon, gynaecologist, two paediatricians, an ophthalmologist (to be confirmed), and four anaesthetists to come and be resident in Hoedspruit. Local general practitioners are also able to access the facility to do small procedures (should they want).
There are agreements in place for visiting specialists that will come to the hospital on designated days (e.g.: cardiologist, urologist, ear nose and throat specialist) – they will take up shares but be involved in the ‘visiting program’ available to interested out of town doctors.
Many of the doctors and anaesthetists will be relocating from other areas to be in Hoedspruit – several of whom already have homes here! Ambulance services will more than likely be offered to current organisations operating in Hoedspruit.
This certainly is a fantastic development welcomed by the town, as Hoedspruit has in the past lost many residents (especially the elderly) because of the lack of medical facilities.
Tendering
Every service required for the completion of the project will be out for tender, and a due diligence will be done on all the ‘finalists’ of those tenders, to ensure reputability and proficient service level delivery. Currently all local service providers have the potential to be listed on the sub-tender lists.
Companies and individuals can send through their company profiles to the email listed below, and in the subject line they must insert what they want to tender for, even if they are applying for job (a description is required). All submissions will then be put into a data base, and when the relevant tender or position comes up for award, the required names will be put forward for evaluation.
If the local tenders are accepted, then they will get the job – the property company would like, as best as they can, to keep as much money as possible within Hoedspruit – but it is quite clear that with critical budget adherence, the operation will not pay a 30% premium just to keep such work in the town.
Municipal efforts
It must be mentioned that the project management team are very thankful to the Mayor, Municipal Manager Nanki Hoaeane, Town Planner Gabriel Mailula, and Building Inspector Dudu Mametja, and all others involved from Maruleng Municipality, for their belief in the project, opening doors, and helping push this development to its current point. They have all genuinely tried to assist to combat any potential delays.
Status and timelines
The current status is that the building plans have been approved, now the fire department has to approve their side of the project. The project management team are awaiting final ‘fire plans’ – these will most probably will have to go to Mopani for approval because of the size of the project. Usually this takes about 60 days (but this can take longer).
If everything moves according to plan, the bulk earth works will be completed in August 2023, building will start the end of August early September 2023. This will take about twelve months (excluding December), and hopefully it will be completed by the end of September beginning October 2024.
Once the building is complete there is the commissioning and installation of all equipment, etc., appointment of a hospital manager mid 2024, and the start of recruitment for the hospital.
The municipality must also issue an operational certificate, after which the operational team must have a series of dry runs, that incorporate training, testing, etc. These tests will be done for some time, to ensure operational capabilities are sound (2 – 3 months).
Once done, the Department of Health will have to come and inspect the installation. Once that is completed to their satisfaction, they will approve the license and only thereafter can the hospital be opened.
Currently the timeline for opening stands anytime between November 2024 to January 2025.the hospital is to be known as the Hoedspruit Private Hospital, and this is the story. It’s been some time coming, but definitely a worthwhile wait. Well done to all involved – the community waits in anticipation.
All emails can be addressed to Carien Taute at carien@hph-sa.co.za
