By TOM MAPHAM
Municipal Reporter
MOTHERS and children from East London’s northern suburbs will soon have easy access to a new luxurious hospital that will specialise in elective operations from maternity care to plastic surgery.
Earthworks on this R120 million Life Beacon Bay hospital have already begun on a site close to the Quenera River. The facility is set to open in October next year.
The 135-bed facility will focus on mother and child services and will also provide access to elective procedures including dentistry, ear, nose and throat surgery, gynaecology and paediatrics.
The news comes hot on the heels of that of a new 100-bed state hospital, which is to be built in East London to service the greater Buffalo City area.
This was announced by Health Department Superintendent-General Lawrence Boya, who said there was a need for such a facility in East London.
But a site and budget had not yet been determined.
The new private hospital will be situated on a 2,2-hectare property close to the N2 off-ramp, which has been chosen for its proximity to the growing suburbs of Beacon Bay and Gonubie.
The hospital will also be accessible from the N2, N6 and the proposed Quenera Drive that will link the two suburbs.
This last road, which will pass the hospital gates, is currently a dirt track. A plan to upgrade it to a tarred four-lane expressway has been delayed for over six months. The project is reportedly being scaled down to make it more affordable for Buffalo City Municipality.
Life Healthcare regional
hospital manager Sean Hubbard said he was certain that the road would be built on time.
“We have put our foot forward in committing to this project, we’re in weekly contact with the municipality and we feel that they are equally committed to the area,” he said.
Those patients looking for
luxury will be able to book VIP suites – larger rooms that will be furnished with wireless Internet connections and flat-screen
televisions. These will command panoramic views of the unspoilt Quenera valley.
The hospital will also have a coffee shop, retail pharmacy, six specialised theatres, a 24-hour emergency service and, a first for the area, numerous associated specialists within the same hospital building.
About 275 parking bays will be made available to receive the
expected crowds.
Many of the new hospital’s services and staff will be transferred from Life Healthcare’s four other facilities in East London.
The maternity services will be moved from Life St Dominics Hospital situated in the centre of town. Life Healthcare, one of the largest private hospital groups in the country, has committed to
redeveloping this facility.
A R20million revamp will
include building a cardiac centre complete with a state-of-the-art cardiac theatre.