R250 000 Boost to Equip New Somerset Hospital for Paediatric Surgery | Western Cape Government

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R250 000 Boost to Equip New Somerset Hospital for Paediatric Surgery

4 July 2012

To celebrate their success of 40 years in business, direct sales company Pres Les decided to give thanks by giving back to the community. On Thursday, 5 July, Pres Les CEO Les Rührmund and staff members visited New Somerset Hospital, the fourth of four charities to receive R250 000 from the company.

New Somerset Hospital is a government funded regional facility located adjacent to the Cape Town Stadium and the V & A Waterfront. It has a history of more than 150 years of supporting the resident population of the area. The hospital has 334 beds and provides general specialist services to an area of about 500 000 people.

The funds donated by Pres Les have been earmarked to support a project to procure equipment for the expansion of the hospital's paediatric surgery service - a service that is of critical importance to children between the ages of 2 and 12 years old.

"The main impetus for starting this project has been the long waiting lists at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and the tremendous strain the service there has been under. Although this is a small beginning, we hope to be able to assist more and more in the future", said Dr Donna Stokes, Chief Operating Officer of New Somerset Hospital.

In recent years, children from all over the Cape have only had access to specialist surgical treatment through Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital. Now these children will be able to access the help they need from their regional hospital, which is of great benefit from a transport, logistical and visiting perspective.

The new equipment will allow the specialist surgeons at New Somerset Hospital to perform both open and laparoscopic - minimal invasive, or keyhole surgery - procedures in children. "We will primarily be focusing on smaller surgeries such as hernias and orchidopexies, but we plan to expand the service to offer emergency treatment to children under the age of ten years." said Dr Heather Bougard, Head of Surgery at New Somerset Hospital.

Dr Bougard said, "An exciting aspect of acquiring this exceptional equipment is that some of it can be used interchangeably for adult surgery. This means that not only are our children getting a better, more efficient service from us, but the adults undergoing surgery may also benefit from the use of this state of the art equipment."

Western Cape Minister of Health, Theuns Botha, thanked Pres Les for their generous contributions to healthcare. "There is no way that the state's purse can have the capacity to invest in state-of-the-art technologies. The state's purse provides for the bare necessities. So in the Western Cape, the more donations and financial assistance we receive from the private sector, the more the province can grow its economy and create job opportunities, without delving into the provincial health budget."

Media Enquiries: 

Naomi Willemse
MANGO OMC
Tel: 021 447 8048
E-mail: naomi@mango-omc.com

Ethne Julius
Principal Communications Officer: Regional, Specialist and Psychiatric Hospitals
Tel: 021 918 1292
Cell: 083 237 1303
E-mail: Ethne.Julius@westerncape.gov.za