PMB Eye Hospital
The most recent addition to Pietermaritzburg ’ s healthcare offering is a new specialist eye clinic on the city ’ s Alan Paton Drive , near the centre of the city . September saw construction begin on this new R50 million , 2 000 m 2 , two-storey day hospital , which is expected to open towards the end of 2017 . “ Right now the building contractor is a month and a half ahead of schedule ,” said William Cholwill , the management consultant overseeing the project late last year . “ It ’ s a tenmonth build and we are hoping to open the doors in September / October 2017 .” PMB Eye Hospital , explained Cholwill , is the idea of three local ophthalmic surgeons — Dr Ed Anderson , Dr Mark Harrison and Dr Enslin Uys — who have since been joined by another two local ophthalmic surgeons , Dr Andre Burger and Dr Sanjay Laloo . Planned to initially function as a day clinic dedicated to specialist eye care , the facility consists of six consulting rooms on the ground floor and a 10-bed , single-theatre hospital on the first floor . The building is designed with a second theatre , into which the facility can later expand . “ The hospital is planned to be a place of excellence that has been designed to manage specialised procedures effectively and efficiently ,” said Cholwill , adding that a dedicated facility of this kind makes a lot of sense . Day clinics , where a patient can be in and out in a matter of hours , offer economic benefits over general hospitals that require longer stay times , Cholwill pointed out . “ Medical aids are also pro day clinics for elective procedures , such as cataract removal ,” he said . “ Specialists will also have much better control over the functioning of the hospital surgical procedures , and can effect direct change and improvement in processes and quality of service .” The hospital may expand into other areas too , Cholwill hinted . “ The hospital is hoping to later expand the nature of procedures offered by adding clean surgical procedures like endoscopy and the like . These will be carried out in the second theatre , while the first theatre will remain dedicated to eye-related procedures .” Cholwill concluded by saying that they were grateful for the support they had received from the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business ’ s CEO , Melanie Veness , in making this idea a reality . “ She was always available and interested to assist ,” he said . “ It is comforting to know that we have someone who really cares and is passionate about development .”
22 | Issue 2 | Capital