Foschini Group Funding Helps Groote Schuur Hospital Refurbish Maternity Centre Patient Lounges | Western Cape Government

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Foschini Group Funding Helps Groote Schuur Hospital Refurbish Maternity Centre Patient Lounges

28 November 2011

Sitting in the Maternity Patient Centre Lounges waiting to be seen by a doctor or waiting to go home has not always been a pleasant experience. Due to funding from the Foschini Group, patients will now have a more pleasant experience at the Maternity Centre Patient Lounges at Groote Schuur Hospital.

After redecorating the area and refurnishing it, Groote Schuur Hospital is proud to officially open the lounges. Changes include new furniture, painting of the area, decorating the lounges and installing new plasma televisions in the lounges. The hospital has now been able to complete upgrades to three of the lounges thanks to the funding of R160 000 from the Foschini Group.

Approximately ten to 15 mothers and their babies use these lounges every day. These lounges took approximately two months to complete and appreciation for the new picturesque area is already being expressed by patients. It is almost like a home away from home.

In addition, TFG is also donating 4 433 baby blankets valued at approximately R40 000 to the hospital. The blankets were made by Job Creation Projects, Tembaletu Protective Workshop and Tamarind 7 Umoja Partnership. "TFG is proud to have been part of this initiative as it allowed us to not only provide mothers and babies with three new refurbished maternity waiting lounges but also with a space where they feel they are being treated with dignity and respect, which is core to our TFG values," said Colleen Carstens from TFG.

The hospital is pleased to have received this generous donation and is able to contribute to patients having a positive experience at a public hospital. Western Cape Minister of Health, Theuns Botha, says: " It is innovations such as the one we are celebrating today that is putting Western Cape Government Health in a position to turn around the state health sector in the Western Cape. We are setting up the province as a positive example of how it is possible to juggle limited resources and increasing demands. In the past two years, we have done groundbreaking work on partnerships with the private sector, and we have crossed borders not yet tested by national government. Today's ceremony is yet another demonstration of the pact between us and the private sector, who will get buck for their corporate investment while our patients will enjoy a better experience."

Media Enquiries: 

Alaric Jacobs
Principal Communications Officer
Groote Schuur Hospital
Tel: 021 404 2188
Cell: 083 412 5608
E-mail: Alaric.Jacobs@pgwc.gov.za