Professor Alan Dilani; Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, National Minister
of Health; Dr SIbongiseni Dhlomo, Provincial Minister of Health;
and Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, Vice-Chancellor of UKZN

The National Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi announced the opening of an international design competition for UKZN’s new medical teaching hospital at the end of September 2012.

Fully sponsored by the International Academy for Design and Health (IADH), Motsoaledi said the six-month competition was “a humbling gesture” that would save government between R300 and R500 million on design fees in the building and rebuilding of six flagship hospitals in five selected provinces nationally.

Motsoaledi addressed delegates at the Howard College campus where he said for over 20 years the South Africa had produced an average of 1200 medical doctors per annum, “regardless of the demand; regardless of the quadruple burden of disease”.

Motsoaledi said the country needed world-class teaching hospitals in order to meet the Department of Health (DoH) target of producing at least 3600 medical doctors annually.

Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, Vice-Chancellor of UKZN, said there was hope that the government of today was trying hard to deliver optimally in shaping country’s future.

The winning design is expected to break ground in 2014, integrating all of UKZN’s health sciences disciplines, the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine and King Edward VIII Central Hospital, in vacant land adjoining the Howard College campus.

The new Limpopo Academic Hospital, the Eastern Cape’s Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital, Mpumalanga Tertiary Hospital and the Dr George Mukhari and Chris Hani Baragwanath hospitals in Gauteng will benefit from adaptations of winning design which will be owned by the country.

Professor Alan Dilani, general director of IADH, said the competition was being run in the spirit of Mandela Day and the winning design should reflect the vision of Nelson Mandela.

Dilani said the design brief would be available on the DoH and Academy’s websites. ‘The entire process from request for pre-qualification, briefing and evaluation should involve local and international firms for the latest knowledge transfer in a global perspective with local identity.’

Professor Rob Slotow, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor for the College of Health Sciences, said the six new flagship projects would allow academic institutions to expand the health workforce equipped with knowledge skills and competencies appropriate to the country’s health context and aligned with the country’s health system.

‘As a leading higher educational institution with a long tradition of producing leaders in healthcare provision, governance and research, we welcome this partnership. Together we can ensure capacity within a new health system, based on the health contexts and needs of our province and country, and which is delivered at the highest global standards.’