![Western Cape Minister of Health, Theuns Botha with district family physician Dr Jeanmarie King and Swartland Municipality Mayor, Councillor Tijmens van Essen. Western Cape Minister of Health, Theuns Botha with district family physician Dr Jeanmarie King and Swartland Municipality Mayor, Councillor Tijmens van Essen.](https://www.westerncape.gov.za/sites/www.westerncape.gov.za/files/malmesbury-cdc.jpg)
On 12 February 2013, Western Cape Minister of Health, Theuns Botha, officially opened the R33 million state-of-the-art health facility in Malmesbury which replaces the old Wesbank Clinic, Oklahoma Clinic, Malmesbury satellite clinic and the Malmesbury hospital outpatient unit.
Construction of the facility started in March 2011 and it has been operational since July 2012. It was constructed at a cost of R33 million. Since the opening in July last year, the facility has seen more or less between 5 000 to 6 000 patients per month; that is an average of 275 patients per day.
In his address to guests, which included municipal mayors and district health managers from all over the Western Cape, Minister Botha said it made sense for the department to collate fragmented primary health care services into one large facility. The increase in population figures in the district, as well as infrastructure problems at the smaller clinics, necessitated a large health facility offering a variety of specialised health services to the people of the Swartland. The physical location of the healthy facility is in close proximity to the Swartland District Hospital, which offers access to the full range of e.g. radiography and other services.
The Malmesbury Community Day Centre (CDC) serves a population of 34,000 and is a referral CDC for the clinics in nearby Darling, Riebeeck-Kasteel and Riebeeck West. The facility offers acute patient treatment services, patient referral services, infectious diseases services, dentistry and rehabilitation services such as occupational therapy and physio therapy.
Minister Botha said that a comprehensive restructuring of all primary health care services in the Swartland is underway. An Emergrncy Medical Services (EMS) unit and ambulance station for Swartland Hospital are included in the plans.
At present Western Cape Government Health is working on 75 capital projects valued at almost R4.5 billion. “The primary objective of the infrastructure programme is to build health facilities that promote our strategic objective of creating wellness, as well as the strategic objective of mainstreaming sustainability and resource-use efficiency,” said Minister Botha.
These objectives are being met through what we call the “4Ls Agenda”:
1. Long life (Sustainability)
2. Loose fit (Flexibility)
3. Low impact (Reduction of carbon footprint)
4. Luminous healing space (Enlightened healing environment)
Hélène Rossouw
Spokesperson for Minister Botha
Tel: 021 483 4426
Cell: 082 771 8834
E-mail: Helene.Rossouw@westerncape.gov.za