Western Cape Charts a New Course for Universal Healthcare

In March 2025, the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness launched an innovative healthcare think tank — a first-of-its-kind initiative bringing public and private healthcare professionals together, including private hospitals, laboratories and pharmacy groups, health care funders, academic institutions, and the provincial Department of Health and Wellness. Since its inception, this collaborative effort has been working to maximise resources and co-create a ‘Western Cape’ universal healthcare strategy —one built on partnership and innovation.

Western Cape Minister of Health and Wellness, Mireille Wenger, emphasised the importance of collaboration in delivering a patient-centred healthcare system. She said, "Healthcare is a team effort. To meet both the immediate and long-term needs of our residents, we need the public and private sectors, alongside academic experts, to work together to find smarter, more efficient ways to deliver quality care. Our vision is to harness the best of both sectors to make this a reality. While this think tank is still in its early days, I am confident that through collaboration, we can ease pressure on the system, expand access to care, and ensure that every Rand is spent wisely."

The think tank’s work is centred on co-creating a Universal Healthcare Strategy — one that is flexible, locally driven, rooted in collaboration, and focused on delivering the highest standard of care to residents. Between May and November 2025, the group will meet monthly to set joint goals, identify priority areas where collaboration can have the greatest impact, assess capacity across both systems, and explore sustainable funding mechanisms to ensure long-term success. The think tank is also developing strategies for implementing initial joint projects to improve healthcare delivery on the ground.

One potential solution under consideration is enabling public-sector patients to access specialised medical equipment and diagnostic imaging at private facilities where these are not available in the public health system. Many private hospitals have advanced technology, such as CT scanners and MRI machines, which public-sector patients, especially those in rural areas, often struggle to access without travelling long distances. By working together, the public and private sectors could reduce unnecessary travel, improve patient care, and enhance the efficiency of healthcare delivery.

Minister Wenger added, "Currently, it is more cost-effective to transport patients to public facilities with the necessary machines than to install and maintain such equipment at over 40 public hospitals across the province. However, if patients could access scans at nearby private facilities instead of enduring long journeys, not only would the patient experience be greatly improved and continuity of care safeguarded, but the department would also be able to ease the burden on stretched patient transportation. This initiative fosters a more integrated healthcare network, encouraging resource-sharing and capacity-building between sectors—all with the goal of improving health outcomes."

"This think tank is just the beginning, and an important step forward. By working together, we can make real, meaningful progress. I want to thank our private-sector and academic partners for joining us on this journey, and I look forward to the solutions that we create together to improve healthcare in this province," she concluded.