logo
Netcare invests in expanding mental health facilities

Netcare invests in expanding mental health facilities

TimesLIVE19-05-2025
Private hospital group Netcare will build a new mental health care facility in Pretoria as the demand for the service continues to grow.
'In response to the increasing need for mental health support in the broader Tshwane region, the group will be commissioning the new Netcare Akeso Montana facility (88 beds) in October 2026. Furthermore, the Netcare Akeso Alberlito facility (80 beds) is scheduled to open its doors in March 2027, strengthening the group's national footprint and reinforcing its dedication to meeting the mental healthcare needs of communities across South Africa,' it said.
It is also building a new Akeso hospital in Polokwane, which will have 87 beds.
Netcare said demand for quality mental healthcare services 'continues to grow and the group remains committed to expanding access and pursuing new opportunities in this vital space'.
On Monday, the company reported adjusted headline earnings per share increased by 20% to 58.8c for the six months to March and a 5.3% increase in total revenue to R12.6bn. The company declared an interim dividend of 36c per share. Total capital expenditure, including strategic projects, was R434m. Total capital expenditure for the 2025 full financial year is estimated at R1.5bn.
The company has embarked on a digital strategy aimed at improving efficiencies and reshaping the way it delivers health and care. The current rollout phase will see the group developing capabilities in predictive analytics and have made significant progress, with the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority approving algorithm for the early detection of sepsis (blood stream infections) in ICU patients.
'This innovation enables earlier clinical interventions and meaningfully enhances patient care and outcomes. In addition, an advanced analytics platform has been deployed, equipping clinical teams with real-time, actionable insights. Beyond the substantial clinical and patient benefits, this capability positions the group to reduce the cost per clinical event, reduce morbidity and mortality rates and improve overall efficiency,' said CEO Dr Richard Friedman.
The next phase of the digital transformation focuses on 'person-centred health and care' and is being rolled out over the next three to four years. 'This initiative will empower patients with direct access to their health records, enabling more meaningful engagement in their care journey and ensuring care delivery is deeply aligned with their individual needs and preferences,' he said.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Sanral faces scrutiny over tender award during contractor suspension
Sanral faces scrutiny over tender award during contractor suspension

The Citizen

time4 days ago

  • The Citizen

Sanral faces scrutiny over tender award during contractor suspension

Roads agency defends R1.57bn contract despite one joint venture partner's CIDB registration being inactive at the time of award. Two R1.5bn contracts awarded to same JV a day apart – both 'should be suspended' says Outa. Picture: Moneyweb The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) has allowed a Chinese joint venture (JV) to continue executing a R1.56 billion Eastern Cape road contract despite the registration of one of the JV partners to enable it to do public work being suspended at the time the tender award was made. The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) registration of Base Major Construction (Pty) Ltd – part of the Base Major-China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) JV – was suspended on 24 November 2024 and lifted on 9 January 2025. ALSO READ: Sanral taking its time to investigate R1.57bn tender award Two R1.57bn contracts, one legal challenge A contract valued at R1.57 billion for the upgrade of the R61 from All Saints to Baziya was awarded to the JV on 28 November 2024, according to Sanral's website. A day earlier – on 27 November 2024 – a contract worth R1.57 billion was awarded by Sanral to the same JV for the improvement of a section of the N1 from Masekwaspoort in Limpopo. However, following a legal challenge to the Masekwaspoort award by Hillary Construction – the second lowest bidder – Sanral agreed to suspend this contract award pending the completion of an investigation by the roads agency. This agreement was made an order of court on 14 February 2025, but Sanral has not yet completed the investigation. Hillary Construction launched an urgent high court application to interdict Sanral from allowing the JV to implement and execute the Masekwaspoort contract pending the finalisation of Part B of its application to review and set aside the contract award to the JV. It indicated it was seeking to set aside the award because Base Major's CIDB registration was suspended at the time the tender award was made. ALSO READ: Sanral suspends R1.57bn contract award pending an investigation Bidders can't become compliant 'later' Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) CEO Wayne Duvenage said on Tuesday that at the very least, both tender awards should have been subject to the same process. If the law is that at the time of awarding the tenders, the successful bidder has to be compliant 'you can't say they became compliant later and it stands'. 'Both of the tender awards should be suspended and if Sanral wants to start again, they can, otherwise they have to go to the second best bidder.' Sanral said on Friday it awarded the R61 tender to the Base Major Construction-CSCEC JV after undertaking its internal procurement processes. It said there is no legal challenge to the awarding of the R61 tender and work is progressing as per norm. However, in its response to Moneyweb's query, Sanral skirted around the issue of whether it is legal to award a tender to a contractor whose CIDB registration was not active at the time the award was made. Sanral said bids for the tender were evaluated by the Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC) in February 2024. 'At this stage, the legal obligation to ascertain Base Major Construction's CIDB status arose. … [its] status with CIDB at that time was active and, after confirming this to be the case as part of the procurement process as legally required at evaluation stage, Sanral proceeded with the evaluation,' it said, adding that the responsive bids for the tender were adjudicated by the Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC) on 7 November 2024. ALSO READ: Sanral: Concerns around multi-billion-rand contract awarded to highest bidder 'On this day, the BAC made a decision regarding the awarding of the tender to the JV. 'Base Major Construction's status with the CIDB was active at that time,' it said. 'In light of the relevant and applicable legal prescripts, such as the CIDB Act, Standards and Regulations relating to CIDB registration, the evaluation of the R61 tender to the JV was permissible, as was the award, and the procurement processes followed by Sanral were above board. 'Currently, Base Major Construction's status with the CIDB is active, and there is no impediment to the JV undertaking the construction work arising from the R61 tender. 'There is no reason for Sanral to suspend the R61 contract pending an investigation and, likewise, no need has arisen for Sanral to investigate the matter on account of an irregularity, of which there is none, and Sanral sees no reason to cancel, re-advertise and re-award the R61 tender,' it said. Unik JV and WBHO were the other bidders for the R61 contract but neither challenged the award. ALSO READ: Sanral faces scrutiny over board changes and possible tender award delays Tenders 'not linked' – Sanral Sanral stressed that the R61 and Maskwaspoort tenders are not linked. It said the tenders were advertised separately, with different scopes of work, and were evaluated and adjudicated independently. Sanral stated in its answering affidavit to Hillary Construction's urgent application regarding the Masekwaspoort tender that its board 'does not intend to take time to investigate the matter.' The court disagreed, and it is now almost 21 weeks since the agreement between Sanral and Hillary Construction was made an order of court. Sanral on Friday repeated what it had previously told Moneyweb about the time it was taking to complete the investigation. 'An investigation of this nature cannot, in the circumstances, be conducted overnight or rushed. This would not be in the interests of the litigating parties, being Sanral, the court and the public. There has been no delay in completing the investigation. All the relevant documents, as well as facts, are under consideration, and all relevant parties at Sanral are being consulted,' it said. 'The investigation will be completed timeously, after undergoing all the necessary processes, and Sanral will comply with the court order.' ALSO READ: Sanral provided misleading information about its 'R53bn in tender awards' Hidden agenda? Outa's Duvenage said 'clearly there is an agenda when that [delays] happens'. 'They are really giving the public and journalists a runaround. They know what is wrong. They are not forging ahead with this investigation and speeding up the process. 'Everything is laborious because it just allows a continuation of this maladministration,' he said. 'Sanral is not working in the best interests of this country, which is an indictment on the board. The Sanral board should step down.' This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.

Bara hospital: The good, bad and ugly
Bara hospital: The good, bad and ugly

The Citizen

time01-07-2025

  • The Citizen

Bara hospital: The good, bad and ugly

The hard reality of a large state hospital and what it offered came as a sharp corrective. I was shortly to be transported from my bed in a very public – and noisy – ward onto a gurney and thence to the theatre. There, a growing tumour was to be removed from my bladder. For I was in Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto. While awaiting my imminent hour of reckoning in theatre, I contemplated my brief journey to that moment. It had all started a little over eight weeks previously when I had been incarcerated in a Netcare hospital seeking relief from a burgeoning sarcoma adjacent to my chest wall. This malevolent growth had bloomed in a few short weeks, inducing, in the latter stages, chattering cold followed by blazing fevers on a daily basis. And with an infection count of 200 – normal is zero – I was swiftly whisked into the high care ward of the hospital. There were 14 beds curtained off, each with a TV screen and a locker for the few belongings. Nurses, perhaps one for every two patients, clean towels, a green hospital gown into which you were expected to change and wear and two fully equipped bathrooms, plus several washing stations with soap dispensers. And as expected, spotlessly clean. As for the meals, they are definitely edible, top boarding school stuff. Ultrasound and MRI scans, chest X-rays and all other preparatory procedures were conducted swiftly and efficaciously. ALSO READ: 'I could die before surgery': Cancer patient lost in Gauteng hospitals backlog Your nurse could be summoned by the simple act of pressing a button, and lo! She manifested. Once the operation was concluded, a visiting physio forced one to get out of bed and move around. All of the above I recalled in a haze, which blurred into my arrival at Bara. A total of 20 hours patiently queuing with a few hundred others over two days seeking admission, which, once granted, involved my finding my way from urology to ECGs and X-rays, through pharmacy and into accident and emergency, where I was informed my transport to a faraway ward could be accessed. Carrying just a small canvas bag containing basic toiletries and a few snacks, I was squeezed into an already overloaded minibus and careened off through the vast confusion of Bara. Finally, I arrived at a vast modern complex built to accommodate large numbers of Covid-19 patients, which never happened. I set about finding my ward. Echoing long, empty corridors and passing several empty or half-empty wards, I finally arrived. Large cubicles simply furnished… my own was equipped with a bed, a thin blanket and a thinner pillow encased in a thick plastic covering. There were no lights behind the beds, allowing one to read. And there was a small locker. Nothing to change into, no gowns provided, the good-natured nurses smiled apologetically. There were two large lavatories cum shower rooms, both spotless. But, sadly, no soap or towels. More smiling apologies. ALSO READ: Gauteng hospitals get major tech overhaul to slash scan backlogs The toilet bowls are clean, but they are devoid of seats. The harsh reality of a large state hospital and its offerings came as a sharp corrective. The next day, I was transferred back into the main hospital building – the surgical ward where patients due for imminent surgery were bedded. This was bedlam compared to the calm, quiet half-empty ward in which I had spent the previous night. Patients head to toe in a corridor, in which I was shown my bed. Of privacy in a cubicle, there was none, of lockers, there were none. Nor were there blankets on my bed, so two large coats were found and thrown over me. Nor was I offered anything to wear. The following morning I was handed a pair of hospital pyjamas unnervingly similar to concentration camp uniforms and, of course, forbidden any food I nervously awaited the inevitable. I had already received visits from the young anaesthetist and one of the surgical team members, who had done their best to calm my fluttering nerves. Finally, the moment of reckoning. A porter arrived with the gurney, I climbed on, nerves jangling uncontrollably and then, as we moved, unbelievably and unexpectedly, the sound of singing. Had I died and gone to heaven? It was the Lord's prayer, voices exquisitely harmonised. Around the corner in the main ward, they stood – a small shimmering complement of young women who sang. All fear evaporated as I was wheeled at speed to the anteroom outside the theatre, my anxieties utterly stilled. In that lucid calm, I knew I was safe. NOW READ: Alarm raised over 'R1.7bn fire safety gap' at Charlotte Maxeke hospital

Vukile Property Fund reports strong annual results and forecasts higher growth for 2026
Vukile Property Fund reports strong annual results and forecasts higher growth for 2026

IOL News

time17-06-2025

  • IOL News

Vukile Property Fund reports strong annual results and forecasts higher growth for 2026

Laurance Rapp is the CEO of Vukile Property Fund. Image: Supplied Vukile Property Fund, the specialist retail estate investment trust, has upgraded its guidance by 8% for 2026 as it produced a robust set of results for the financial year ended March 31 2025. Delivering on its market guidance, Vukile achieved 3% growth in full-year funds from operations per share and increased its dividend per share by 6%. Laurence Rapp, the CEO of Vukile Property Fund, said, 'We are pleased to report strong results in a transformative year, distinguished by accretive strategic growth and capital rotation. This outstanding performance validates Vukile's strategy, expands its earnings base and positions the business for compounding future growth.' Vukile's, with total property assets now exceeding R50 billion, is evolving into a more international business with growing exposure to hard currency earnings emanating from blue-chip tenants and well diversifed across macro-economic drivers. Rapp explained the year had been transformative after Vukile exited its listed share exposure in Fairvest and sold remaining stake for R141 million and redeployed into accretive solar projects and exited Spain's Lar España thus generating a capital gain of €82 million (R1.7 billion),. Lar España sale proceeds together with proceeds from R1bn equity raise in February 2024 and a R1.5bn capital raise in September 2024, allowed Vukile to acquire three assets in Portugal for €176.5m. It acquired 50% of Alegro Sintra in Lisbon for €83.4m and also acquired the Bonaire shopping centre in Valencia, Spain for €305m. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ This meant that Vukile has expanded its Iberian direct asset base by nearly 60%, consolidating its footprint across two of Europe's most resilient consumer economies. Now, 65% of the group's assets, and an expected 60% of its net property income is derived offshore. Now, 65% of the group's assets, and an expected 60% of its net property income is derived offshore Vukile closed the year with an investment portfolio of 33 urban, commuter, township and rural malls in South Africa,15 shopping centres and retail parks in Spain and five shopping centres in Portugal. In Spain and Portugal, portfolio occupancy stood at 98.4% with 95% of retail space let to international and national tenants. It saw like-for-like gross rental income growth of 5% and net operating income growth of 6.4%. Rapp said in South Africa, Vukile's robust operating platform "yet again delivered outstanding results". Valued at R16.7 billion, Vukile's defensive, dominant South African retail portfolio delivered strong performance and growth. The value of its retail portfolio rose by 8.5%, while like-for-like net operating income increased by 6.4%. Vacancies remained exceptionally low at 1.7%, supported by active letting, with positive rental reversions of 2.4%. Notably, 85% of leases were signed at the same or higher rental levels, with tenant retention at 91%. The total portfolio recorded trading density growth of 5.2% - with its township and rural portfolio outperforming at 6.7% - driven by Vukile's shopper-first approach, which continues to boost footfall and sales. The portfolio's cost-to-income ratio was 15.3% - its lowest level in a decade – reflecting proactive cost management, with the benefit of solar energy contributing to significant efficiency gains. In South Africa in April 2024 Vukile acquired 50% of Mall of Mthatha, previously known as BT Ngebs, for R400 million and invested a further R113 million to upgrade and refurbish the centre. Vukile said the Mall of Mthatha has delivered a "strong early performance", with the vacancy rate dropping from 16% when acquired to just 2%, adding that the highly accretive project is set for completion in September 2025. The comprehensive R141million Bedworth Centre strategic upgrade in Vanderbijlpark, delivered a high-convenience, community-focused retail destination with enhanced tenant mix, aesthetics, amenities, access and security. Meanwhile, looking at Vukile's solar PV rollout in South Africa, over the year, solar capacity grew by 67%, with 14.4MWp added to the existing 21.6MWp. Solar power now supplies 27% of the portfolio's energy needs. Vukile said it has identified a further 10.6MWp of solar projects for 2026 and is finalising the agreements for two wheeling projects totalling 2MWp. The balance sheet remained sound with significant available cash balancesof R2.1 billion and undrawn debt facilities of R2.5 billion. BUSINESS REPORT Visit:

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store