Mowbray Maternity Hospital Celebrates 95th Birthday | Western Cape Government

News

News

Mowbray Maternity Hospital Celebrates 95th Birthday

23 November 2011

The Mowbray Maternity Hospital is celebrating 95 years of existence. As part of the birthday celebrations, the facility's Hospital Board will introduce a fundraising campaign (which will be launched in 2012) to mobilise much-needed funding for the facility in December 2011.

Implemented over the next five years, the campaign aims to raise R5 million and will include capital projects as well as education and service training programmes. The Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille, and Western Cape Minister of Health, Theuns Botha, will sign a letter of endorsement at the birthday celebration for this fundraising campaign. All future projects of this campaign will respond to the need to ensure good health care for mothers and newborn babies, actively assisting in achieving one of the Millennium Development Goals (namely, to reduce child mortality).

As the largest dedicated maternity hospital in South Africa, Mowbray Maternity offers pregnant mothers and their newborn infants subsidised health care. At least 95% of the hospital's patients have no access to private health funding or facilities. Of the 38 000 babies born annually in the Metropole West region of the Western Cape, Mowbray Maternity facilitates almost 11 500 of these births. "We are proud of the high standard of service and health care we offer pregnant mothers and their newborn infants," says Board Chairperson Advocate Tanya Golden. "95% of our patients have no access to private healthcare funding or facilities. We therefore strive to ensure that this much-needed service of subsidised health care is world class."

The Centenary Campaign has begun with a capital project, namely the purchase and upgrade of equipment for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Incubators, monitors, ventilators and phototherapy lights need to be replaced with an ultrasound/echocardiography machine top of the critical needs list. The machine currently in use is six years old and is the "workhorse" of the unit. The hospital relies on the most advanced technology to inform early and accurate diagnosis.

In 2007, Mowbray Maternity received recognition for outstanding performance in the field of health care by winning the "Premier's Service Excellence Award" for service delivery in the Western Cape.

Western Cape Minister of Health, Theuns Botha, says: "Mowbray Maternity Hospital has a special place in the portfolio of Western Cape Government Health facilities as it is the largest dedicated maternity hospital in South Africa. So it follows that for hundreds and thousands of mothers this facility holds a special place - and I am sure a special memory."

"It is my special privilege tonight to toast the achievements of the hospital. The hospital is launching the fundraising campaign for the centenary celebrations in 2016. The hospital's actual birthday celebration is on 13 December. But going forward the hospital needs funds that cannot be allocated from our health budget - the primary health care needs of the province are just too overwhelming."

Going forward over the next five years, Mowbray Maternity is seeking friends and partners to support its Centenary Campaign, a campaign which will ensure the hospital continues to provide world-class maternity and neonatal services for the next 100 years.

Media Enquiries: 

Sithembiso Magubane
Principal Communications Officer
District Health Services
Tel: 021 483 2904
Cell: 071 315 3581
E-mail: Sithembiso.Magubane@pgwc.gov.za