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EF: Could you elaborate on Mediclinic's footprint and this year's priorities?
GW: We are part of the Mediclinic Group which has a strong presence on three continents. Mediclinic Southern Africa’s reach is extensive, encompassing 50 acute care hospitals across eight of the nine provinces in South Africa, three hospitals located in Namibia and other related businesses. We have over 8700 beds and up to 17,000 full-time employees across Southern Africa.
Our vision of enhancing the quality of life for our clients means we are consistently looking at ways to not only grow our business but expand our services to cater to the needs of our clients and communities. Our continuum of care offering has allowed us to replicate our success in other care settings such as mental health, acute and chronic renal health services, and other diagnostic settings, where clients experience a high level of quality care that is synonymous with the Mediclinic brand.
As part of our migration of care, we have focused on expanding access to day clinics and the streamlined care we offer for planned procedures. These are co-located at some of our hospitals to ensure our clients have, amongst other things, easy access to supportive services such as radiology and pathology to ensure a better patient journey and better collaboration for the best clinical outcomes.
The growing demand for mental health services has led to the introduction of five dedicated medical mental health facilities across various communities in the country. We have successfully implemented Mediclinic@Home at several of our facilities, and have progressed well with this programme, which is quite popular with our doctors and patients. Most people prefer to recover in the comfort of their home rather than in a hospital if they are not severely ill. Not only will we be focusing on avoiding unnecessary admissions, but we will also be implementing early supported discharge, which allows patients to recover at home under the guidance of high-quality clinical care. Additionally, it creates capacity in the hospitals for the accommodation of critically ill patients and those requiring specialised care.
By entering the various care settings, we are introducing an integrated continuum of care, whether, through ownership or partnership, we are able to provide the same level of care without fragmentation and duplication. It also allows us to apply the high standards we have introduced to acute care to other care settings. In the end, we believe that the ability to improve patient value is determined by the improvement of clinical outcomes, patient safety and lowering of costs.
We are also embracing digital health transformation in order to deliver this integration. We are excited to be piloting key digital platforms for our specialists to interact with their patients as part of our Mediclinic digital clinics for virtual health.
By having an Electronic Health Record (EHR) that is highly integrated with our doctor practice management systems, Mediclinic plans to advance the integration of care and empower our clinicians with the best data to make decisions on care. Patient safety and the high-quality clinical results EHR enables are key to our consideration.
Our counterparts in the United Arab Emirates have effectively implemented the EHR and we were able to benefit from each other's technical knowledge. That is yet another advantage of belonging to a global group.
EF: What are the primary key performance indicators (KPIs) that Mediclinic uses, and how do you anticipate them to change as you implement all of these new technologies?
GW: The new technologies will enable many aspects that enhance clinical outcomes, patient safety and experience largely because they will foster greater data management and effective metrics.
EF: Which techniques do you use to create a cohesive team and make yourself an attractive employer?
GW: In 2024, Mediclinic was recognised as a Top Employer in South Africa. For me, the most crucial element in the effective empowerment of people is the shared belief in our message that says, "I trust and respect you" "You bring a valuable skill to our organisation” and that there’s a space for you to exercise that expertise. That empowerment rests on diversity and inclusion. There are many people in our environment coming from different backgrounds, and if all are constrained to thinking the same way, it will limit our potential. It all comes down to fostering an atmosphere of great diversity and taking in alternative viewpoints and ideas to resolve challenges. Diversity is seen in a variety of ways, including ways of thinking, cultures, and ethnicities; as well as actively seeking out diversity, not giving up once it is achieved, and making sure that inclusion is fostered. Of course, great talent is drawn to environments that value empowerment, diversity, and inclusion. Giving people opportunities to develop is another facet of reward, which goes beyond monetary compensation, and having diverse teams ensures greater empathy and resonance with our diverse patients.
EF: How do you see the value of stakeholder collaborations to expand South Africa's healthcare footprint?
GW: Our recent national elections have delivered results that have necessitated political collaboration. I see this as an opportunity to expand stakeholder collaboration, in general, within the socio-economic sphere. Within the healthcare industry, we are presented with an enhanced opportunity to collaboratively engage as private and public sector stakeholders in developing new models to deliver sustainable universal healthcare.
EF: Would you like to share with our readers your last thoughts regarding Mediclinic's future and the future of healthcare in South Africa as a whole?
GW: My conviction is that the people of South Africa are resilient and that, in times of need, South Africans can unite to create lasting solutions. This was evident in the sustainable way in which we transitioned from apartheid to democracy. When it comes to cooperation, the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that we could work together in both the public and private sectors. In general, I think that South Africa has a great degree of innovation and resilience, which I believe is evident in our organisation as well.
When we examine how Mediclinic has recovered post the COVID-19 pandemic, we see a demonstration of the resilience of its employees and doctors as well as their inventiveness in creating products and services for new healthcare settings that enhance our established practices. It also highlights the positive relationships we have with our stakeholders, including our doctors and suppliers. All of this is founded on incredibly strong values that are shared by those who are in our ecosystem.
While there is still a lot of work to be done, I believe that effective stakeholder collaboration between the public and private sectors will ensure a sustainable healthcare sector striving towards universal access to quality healthcare.
